WREN & MARTIN's English grammar-emphatic pronouns for competitive examinations

 

EMPHATIC PRONOUNS — MCQs for Competitive Examinations

(Based on Wren & Martin's English Grammar)

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Average Standard

1. The Prime Minister ________ inaugurated the new bridge in the city.

• A) him
• B) his
• C) himself
• D) he

2. I ________ saw the accident happen right in front of my house.

• A) me
• B) my
• C) mine
• D) myself

3. The students ________ cleaned the entire classroom without any help from the teacher.

• A) them
• B) their
• C) they
• D) themselves

4. She ________ cooked the entire meal for the guests at the function.

• A) her
• B) hers
• C) herself
• D) she

5. We ________ are responsible for the success or failure of our lives.

• A) us
• B) our
• C) ours
• D) ourselves

6. Choose the correct sentence that uses an emphatic pronoun:

• A) He hurt himself during the match.
• B) He himself attended the meeting without any invitation.
• C) He talks to himself when he is alone.
• D) He blamed himself for the loss.

7. You ________ told me that the examination was postponed — now why are you denying it?

• A) you
• B) your
• C) yours
• D) yourself

8. The old woman ________ stitched this beautiful dress without anyone's assistance.

• A) her
• B) herself
• C) she
• D) hers

9. Identify the sentence in which the pronoun is used as an emphatic pronoun and NOT as a reflexive pronoun:

• A) She cut herself while chopping vegetables.
• B) He introduced himself to the guests.
• C) The director himself reviewed every scene of the film.
• D) They enjoyed themselves at the farewell party.

10. Identify the error in the following sentence: "The children themselves has completed the science project without any external help."

• A) The children
• B) themselves
• C) has completed
• D) without any external help
• E) No error

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Answers

1. C) himself "Himself" is used here as an emphatic pronoun to stress that it was the Prime Minister — and no one else — who performed the inauguration. Wren & Martin states that emphatic pronouns are used to lay stress on the noun or pronoun they refer to. They are placed immediately after the noun they emphasise.

2. D) myself "Myself" is used here as an emphatic pronoun immediately after "I" to emphasise that it was the speaker — and no one else — who personally witnessed the accident. Wren & Martin: emphatic pronouns can be placed right after the subject or at the end of the sentence — both positions are acceptable.

3. D) themselves "Themselves" here emphasises that it was the students — and no outside help — who performed the cleaning. Wren & Martin distinguishes this from reflexive use: in reflexive use, the pronoun is the object of the verb, whereas in emphatic use, the pronoun only adds stress and can be removed without affecting the basic meaning of the sentence.

4. C) herself "Herself" is the emphatic pronoun referring back to "she" to stress personal effort. A simple test suggested by Wren & Martin: if the "-self" pronoun can be removed and the sentence still makes complete grammatical sense, it is being used as an emphatic pronoun. Here — "She cooked the entire meal" — the sentence is still complete and correct.

5. D) ourselves "Ourselves" is placed after "we" to emphasise that it is we — and no one else — who bear responsibility for our own lives. Wren & Martin: emphatic pronouns must agree in person, number, and gender with the noun or pronoun they emphasise. "We" is first person plural, so "ourselves" is correct.

6. B) He himself attended the meeting without any invitation. In option A, C, and D — "himself" is used as a reflexive pronoun (the action turns back on the subject). In option B, "himself" is used to emphasise that he personally attended — it adds stress, not reflection of action. Wren & Martin: the key difference is that emphatic pronouns add stress while reflexive pronouns show that the subject and object are the same person.

7. D) yourself "Yourself" is used here as an emphatic pronoun after "you" to stress that it was the listener — and not anyone else — who conveyed the information about the postponement. The emphatic pronoun here adds force to the accusation. Removing "yourself" — "You told me that..." — the sentence remains grammatically complete, confirming its emphatic use.

8. B) herself "Herself" emphasises that the old woman — unaided and independently — stitched the dress. Wren & Martin: emphatic pronouns are particularly used to highlight personal effort, independence, or direct involvement of the subject in the action. Option A "her" is a simple object pronoun and does not add any emphasis.

9. C) The director himself reviewed every scene of the film. In options A, B, and D — the "-self" pronouns are reflexive because the action of the verb turns back upon the subject (cut herself, introduced himself, enjoyed themselves). In option C — "himself" only adds emphasis to "the director" and does not function as the object of the verb "reviewed." Removing "himself" leaves the sentence fully intact — the hallmark of emphatic pronoun use as per Wren & Martin.

10. C) has completed The subject of the sentence is "The children" which is plural. The verb must therefore be "have completed" and not "has completed." The emphatic pronoun "themselves" in this sentence is correctly used — it agrees with the plural subject "children." Wren & Martin: the verb must always agree with the subject in number, not with the emphatic pronoun placed between them.