What Are Intensive Pronouns?
2020-09-18
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1Imagine you are watching an American film or television show - a mystery, for example.
2You hear one of the actors say the following words:
3"I myself am going to Boston..."
4You might stop and think about what you heard.
5Why would the speaker say, "I myself..."?
6That question will be our subject on Everyday Grammar.
7Today, we will explore the mysterious world of intensive pronouns.
8But first, what exactly is a pronoun?
9Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns in a sentence.
10There are three terms you need to understand: personal pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and intensive pronouns.
11We will explore each in turn.
12Personal pronouns are words such as my or our.
13Personal pronouns have different forms depending on where they are in the sentence.
14They can take the place of the subject, object, and so on.
15Personal pronouns are the starting place for reflexive pronouns.
16English speakers generally make reflexive pronouns by adding the terms -self or -selves to the personal pronoun.
17For example, in the first person, the singular pronoun my becomes myself; the plural pronoun our becomes ourselves.
18Before we get to intensive pronouns, let us stop and think about why pronouns are useful.
19Consider this sentence:
20"Bob hit Bob while Bob was hammering a nail."
21Note that the noun, Bob, appears three times in the sentence.
22Such a sentence is a little clumsy - much like poor Bob!
23What if some of the nouns were replaced by pronouns? Then, the sentence could be:
24Bob hit himself while he was hammering a nail.
25Or this:
26Bob hit himself while hammering a nail.
27In each sentence, the noun Bob appears once.
28The word himself, a reflexive pronoun, refers to Bob.
29And the personal pronoun he also means Bob.
30What about intensive pronouns?
31Intensive pronouns have the same form as reflexive pronouns.
32The difference is in how they are used.
33In a sentence, the intensive pronoun serves as an appositive - a word or group of words that renames a noun.
34Appositives tell more information about a noun or noun phrase.
35Imagine you hear some Americans talking about their favorite food.
36You might hear one of them say any one of the following lines:
37Myself, I prefer pizza.
38I myself prefer pizza.
39I prefer pizza myself.
40In our examples, the intensive pronoun myself renames the subject of the sentence - the word I.
41Note that the intensive pronoun appears at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence.
42It does not have to appear next to the noun or pronoun that it is renaming, although in many cases it does.
43You might be wondering why English speakers use the intensive pronoun.
44It refers to the same thing as the subject of the sentence.
45What information could it add?
46The answer is this: the intensive pronoun gives more emphasis or force to a statement.
47That is why intensive pronouns are sometimes called emphatic reflexive pronouns.
48If you are unsure whether a word is acting like an intensive pronoun or reflexive pronoun, you can do a kind of test.
49If you remove the intensive pronoun, the sentence should still be complete.
50This is because appositives give more information.
51You can remove the information and the sentence will still work.
52For example:
53I told him myself.
54Becomes:
55I told him.
56Now let's do the same test on a sentence with a reflexive pronoun:
57He cut himself while shaving.
58If you remove himself, the sentence is no longer complete.
59We began this report with the line from an imaginary film or television show:
60I myself am going to Boston.
61Now you know that the speaker used the words "I myself..." to add more force to the statement.
62Perhaps she has had a disagreement with someone else about where to go.
63Perhaps she wants to show that she has made a different choice.
64The next time you are watching a program, listen to how the speakers use intensive pronouns.
65Over time, you will begin to understand the important information that such pronouns can give.
66I'm John Russell.
67And I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Imagine you are watching an American film or television show - a mystery, for example. You hear one of the actors say the following words: 2"I myself am going to Boston..." 3You might stop and think about what you heard. Why would the speaker say, "I myself..."? 4That question will be our subject on Everyday Grammar. Today, we will explore the mysterious world of intensive pronouns. 5But first, what exactly is a pronoun? 6Pronouns 7Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns in a sentence. 8There are three terms you need to understand: personal pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and intensive pronouns. We will explore each in turn. 9Personal pronouns are words such as my or our. Personal pronouns have different forms depending on where they are in the sentence. They can take the place of the subject, object, and so on. 10Personal pronouns are the starting place for reflexive pronouns. English speakers generally make reflexive pronouns by adding the terms -self or -selves to the personal pronoun. 11For example, in the first person, the singular pronoun my becomes myself; the plural pronoun our becomes ourselves. 12Before we get to intensive pronouns, let us stop and think about why pronouns are useful. 13Consider this sentence: 14"Bob hit Bob while Bob was hammering a nail." 15Note that the noun, Bob, appears three times in the sentence. Such a sentence is a little clumsy - much like poor Bob! 16What if some of the nouns were replaced by pronouns? Then, the sentence could be: 17Bob hit himself while he was hammering a nail. 18Or this: 19Bob hit himself while hammering a nail. 20In each sentence, the noun Bob appears once. The word himself, a reflexive pronoun, refers to Bob. And the personal pronoun he also means Bob. 21What about intensive pronouns? 22Intensive pronouns have the same form as reflexive pronouns. The difference is in how they are used. 23How to use intensive pronouns 24In a sentence, the intensive pronoun serves as an appositive - a word or group of words that renames a noun. Appositives tell more information about a noun or noun phrase. 25Imagine you hear some Americans talking about their favorite food. You might hear one of them say any one of the following lines: 26Myself, I prefer pizza. 27I myself prefer pizza. 28I prefer pizza myself. 29In our examples, the intensive pronoun myself renames the subject of the sentence - the word I. 30Note that the intensive pronoun appears at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence. It does not have to appear next to the noun or pronoun that it is renaming, although in many cases it does. 31You might be wondering why English speakers use the intensive pronoun. It refers to the same thing as the subject of the sentence. What information could it add? 32The answer is this: the intensive pronoun gives more emphasis or force to a statement. That is why intensive pronouns are sometimes called emphatic reflexive pronouns. 33If you are unsure whether a word is acting like an intensive pronoun or reflexive pronoun, you can do a kind of test. 34If you remove the intensive pronoun, the sentence should still be complete. This is because appositives give more information. You can remove the information and the sentence will still work. 35For example: 36I told him myself. 37Becomes: 38I told him. 39Now let's do the same test on a sentence with a reflexive pronoun: 40He cut himself while shaving. 41If you remove himself, the sentence is no longer complete. 42Closing thoughts 43We began this report with the line from an imaginary film or television show: 44I myself am going to Boston. 45Now you know that the speaker used the words "I myself..." to add more force to the statement. Perhaps she has had a disagreement with someone else about where to go. Perhaps she wants to show that she has made a different choice. 46The next time you are watching a program, listen to how the speakers use intensive pronouns. Over time, you will begin to understand the important information that such pronouns can give. 47I'm John Russell. 48And I'm Ashley Thompson. 49John Russell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 50_____________________________________________________________ 51Words in This Story 52plural - adj. grammar: relating to a form of a word that suggests more than one person or thing 53hammer - v. to force (something) into a place or shape by hitting it with a hammer; n. a tool with a heavy metal head 54clumsy - adj. moving or doing things in a very uneasy or difficult way; badly made or done 55phrase - n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence 56prefer - v. to like (someone or something) better than someone or something else 57shave - v. to cut off hair or something else very close to the skin 58We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.