Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Children often hurt _____ while playing in the garden.
a) themselves
b) himself
c) itself
d) herself

Answer 1

Hint: Himself, herself, etc. are called reflexive pronouns. We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object are the same. For example, My brother (subject) hurt himself (object) while playing. The word “himself” is used to refer to the brother.

Complete answer:
Option a is the correct answer because the word “children” is in the plural form. To refer to plural nouns, we use “themselves”. Thus, children often hurt themselves while playing in the garden.
Option b is wrong because “himself” is used when two conditions are fulfilled- first, then there is only one person who is being referred to, and second when the person is a boy/man/male.
Since neither of the two conditions are being fulfilled, it is wrong.
Option c is wrong because “itself” is used for gender-neutral things, for example, for babies and animals. The dog started scratching itself.
Option d is wrong because like option b, it needs to be a singular person but unlike option b, the person needs to be a girl/woman/female. Since the subject in the given sentence is plural, “herself” cannot be used.

Note:
Reflexive pronouns are easy to use. For boys, it’s himself, for girls, it’s herself. For anything which is gender-neutral, itself is used. Other reflexive pronouns are themselves- used for plural nouns. There are very low chances of making any mistake in this but if there is confusion, check how many people/things there are as the subject. Also, notice the gender of the subject.