An intensive pronoun (or self-intensifier) adds emphasis to a statement; for example, "I did it ''myself''." While English intensive pronouns (e.g., ''myself'', ''yourself'', ''himself, herself'', ''ourselves'', ''yourselves'', ''themselves'') use the same form as

reflexive pronoun A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its antecedent) within the same sentence. In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and refer to a previously n ...

s, an intensive pronoun is different from a reflexive pronoun because it functions as an

adverbial In English grammar, an adverbial (abbreviated ) is a word (an adverb) or a group of words (an adverbial clause or adverbial phrase) that modifies or more closely defines the sentence or the verb. (The word ''adverbial'' itself is also used as a ...

adnominal In linguistics, an adjunct is an optional, or ''structurally dispensable'', part of a sentence, clause, or phrase that, if removed or discarded, will not structurally affect the remainder of the sentence. Example: In the sentence ''John helped Bill ...

modifier Modifier may refer to: * Grammatical modifier, a word that modifies the meaning of another word or limits its meaning ** Compound modifier, two or more words that modify a noun ** Dangling modifier, a word or phrase that modifies a clause in an am ...

, not as an

argument An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...

of a verb. Both intensive and reflexive pronouns make reference to an antecedent. For example, compare "I will do it myself," where "myself" is a self-intensifier indicating that nobody else did it, to "I sold myself," where "myself" fills the argument role of

direct object In linguistics, an object is any of several types of arguments. In subject-prominent, nominative-accusative languages such as English, a transitive verb typically distinguishes between its subject and any of its objects, which can include but ...

. Note also that this sentence may be extended, as in "I sold myself myself," where the second pronoun emphasizes the fact that nobody helped me to sell myself.

Terminology

Self-intensifiers have also been called simply "intensifiers",König, Ekkehard, Peter Siemund & Stephan Töpper. 2005. Intensifiers and reflexives. In Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil & Bernard Comrie (eds.), The world atlas of language structures, 194–197. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://wals.info/chapter/112. or "emphatic reflexives", or "intensive reflexives". In many languages, they are similar or identical to

reflexive pronouns A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its Antecedent (grammar), antecedent) within the same sentence. In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and re ...

In other languages

Latin has a dedicated intensifier, '' ipse'', ''-a'', ''-um'', used to emphasize a noun or pronoun in either a subject or a predicate of a sentence. In

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

, emphasis is indicated using the word ''selv''; "I will do it myself" is rendered ''Jeg gør det selv''. When a verb is used that requires reflexion, it becomes similar to English except that two words are used: "I help myself" is rendered ''Jeg hjælper mig selv''. In

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, emphasis is indicated using the word ''selbst''. "I will do it myself" is rendered ''Ich werde es selbst tun''.

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

usage of ''zelf'' is identical: ''Ik zal het zelf doen''. In

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, as in most other

pro-drop language A pro-drop language (from "pronoun-dropping") is a language where certain classes of pronouns may be omitted when they can be pragmatically or grammatically inferable. The precise conditions vary from language to language, and can be quite int ...

s, emphasis can be added simply by explicitly using the omissible pronoun. Following the above example, "I will do it myself" is rendered "Lo haré yo." Adding "mismo" after the pronoun yields additional emphasis.

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

uses certain forms of

disjunctive pronoun A disjunctive pronoun is a stressed form of a personal pronoun reserved for use in isolation or in certain syntactic contexts. Examples and usage Disjunctive pronominal forms are typically found in the following contexts. The examples are taken fr ...

s completed by adverb -même, for example (Je l'ai fait moi-même).

Terminology

In other languages

See also

References

Further reading