OXFORD PRACTICE GRAMMAR 101

OXFORD PRACTICE GRAMMAR
101 EMPHATIC PRONOUNS AND EACH OTHER
A Emphatic pronouns
Trevor and Laura are decorating their living-room themselves.
An emphatic pronoun is a word like myself, yourself.
It has the same form as a reflexive pronoun (see Unit 100B).
Here the emphatic pronoun means 'without help'. Trevor and
Laura are decorating the room without help from anyone else.
Compare They're having the room wallpapered (by a decorator)
(see Unit 58A).
Here are some more examples.
I built this boat myself. My sister designs all these clothes herself.
Are you doing all the painting yourselves? When we
say these sentences, we stress self or selves.
Now look at these examples.
The manager himself welcomed us to the hotel.
(= The manager welcomed us, not someone else.)
Although she is very rich, the Queen herself never carries any money.
The house itself is small, but the garden is enormous.
Of course the children have been to the zoo. You yourself took them there
last year.
Here the emphatic pronoun comes after the noun or pronoun it relates to.
B Each other
Look at this example.
Andrew and Jessica help each other with their work. This means that
Andrew helps Jessica, and
Jessica helps Andrew. Here are some more examples.
Mark and Alan aren't really friends. They don't like each other much.
I'm still in touch with Kirsty. We write to each other.
One another has the same meaning.
We send each other/one another Christmas cards every year.

We can also use the possessive form each other's.
Tom and Mark wrote down each other's phone numbers. This means that
Tom wrote down
Mark's number, and Mark wrote down Tom's number.
Compare each other and themselves.

They're laughing at each other. They're laughing at themselves.
101 EXERCISES
1 Emphatic pronouns (A)
Add a sentence with an emphatic pronoun, e.g. myself.
Use these verbs: bake, clean, decorate, develop, grow, paint, service, type
? I don't take the car to the garage. / service it myself.
? Laura didn't buy those pictures. She painted them herself.
1 Tom doesn't have his windows cleaned..............................
2 My bread doesn't come from a shop. .....................................
3 My friends eat lots of fresh vegetables. ......................................
4 We finished the dining-room yesterday..........................
5 Mark doesn't dictate his letters to a secretary............................
6 I don't pay to have my photos done ..........................................
2 Emphatic pronouns (A)
Put in an emphatic pronoun, e.g. myself, yourself.
► Of course I know about Matthew and Emma. You told me yourself.
1 The princess...................................visited the children in hospital.
2 The song wasn't very good, but the title of the song became a popular
phrase.
3 The visitors were welcomed to the school by the headmaster..........
4 The pilots ........................... are nervous of flying because of terrorist
threats.
5 You all know that no one can take your decisions for you. You will have to
decide.

3 Each other (B)
David and Melanie are in love. Write sentences about them using each
other.
► Melanie often writes notes to David. He also often writes notes to
Melanie.
They often write notes to each other.
1 David is always thinking about Melanie. She's just the same. She's always
thinking about him.
2 Melanie has got lots of photos of David. He's got lots of photos of her, too.
3 They love being together. David enjoys Melanie's company, and she
enjoys David's company.
4 Melanie is crazy about David. He feels the same way. He's crazy about
Melanie.
4 Each other or a reflexive pronoun? (B and Unit 100)
Put in each other, ourselves or themselves.
? We could all do more to keep healthy. We don't look after ourselves
properly.
? The hostess introduced the two guests to each other.
1 The two boxers did their best to knock ................................. out.
2 We talk to ................…………. in French because it's the only language
we both know.
3 People who talk to ………………….. ......may get strange looks from
other people.
4 We'd better set off early to give .…………………….plenty of time to get
there.
5 The guards who shot a gunman claimed that they were
defending……………………
6 Luckily we managed to get two seats next
to……………………………………………..