I or me? Mine or my? And when you really need myself.
You use I, me, my and mine hundreds of times a day. Most mistakes happen in just a few places: after “and”, after prepositions, and with -self words. Let's see where your instincts are.
1. Which sounds right in a work email?
2. Which one is correct?
3. Which verb normally needs a -self word after it?
Four quick questions. This isn't graded harshly — it just shows us where to focus.
1. Tomasz and ___ are presenting the results on Friday.
2. Just between you and ___, I think the deadline is unrealistic.
3. The company changed ___ logo last year.
4. She taught ___ Excel by watching online videos.
English pronouns change form depending on the job they do in the sentence. Is the person doing the action? Receiving it? Owning something? Or doing the action to themselves? Browse each type, then try Quick check — you'll see a sentence with a gap and decide which type of pronoun it needs.
— Click either cell to see another example.
Hover over (or tap) each sentence to see what the pronoun choice changes.
Two years ago, Maja was working in customer service and feeling stuck. Her manager kept telling her that the company needed people who could read data, but there was no budget for training. So she decided to teach herself. Every evening after work, she devoted an hour to free online courses, and at weekends she practised on real spreadsheets from her own team.
The first months were frustrating. “I kept comparing myself to colleagues who had studied statistics,” she says. “Their reports looked so professional, and mine looked like a school project.” What helped was a small study group she found online: four strangers who met on video calls, shared their mistakes and encouraged each other. Nobody was an expert, so nobody felt embarrassed asking basic questions.
The turning point came when Maja built a simple dashboard showing why customers were calling. She presented it to her manager, who immediately forwarded it to the director. Within six months, she and a colleague had moved into a new analytics role. Her advice for anyone in a similar position is straightforward: “Don't wait for someone to give you permission. Set yourself a small goal, stay consistent, and don't be afraid to share unfinished work — that's how people notice your potential.”
Tap a highlighted word for pronunciation, meaning and an example. With grammar highlighting on, tap a highlighted phrase to see why that form was used.
1. Why did Maja decide to teach herself?
2. What made the online study group useful?
3. What happened after Maja presented her dashboard?
All nine words from the text — mixed formats.
1. If you feel “stuck”, you…
2. A “turning point” is…
3. Something “straightforward” is…
4. Someone who is “consistent”…
5. Your “potential” is…
1. She an hour every evening to online courses.
2. The first months of learning were really — nothing seemed to work.
3. The group members each other to keep going.
4. Nobody felt asking basic questions.
Grammar focus — subject, object, possessive or reflexive?
1. If you need anything, just ask Olga or (I).
2. Tomasz and (I) are working on the new budget.
3. Don't worry about the printer — I'll fix it (I).
4. Is this coffee cup (you)? It was left in the meeting room.
5. The new app has problems, but (it) design is excellent.
6. They didn't hire a designer; they built the website (they).
One word is wrong in each sentence. Tap it.
Tap the chips in the right order. Three rounds.
Talk for one minute about a skill you taught yourself (or would like to). Use at least one reflexive pronoun (myself, yourself…), one possessive pronoun (mine, yours…) and the phrase “by myself”.
Anna and Tomasz are talking about Maja's story and learning new skills at work.
1. How is Tomasz learning to code?
2. Whose code does Tomasz think is cleaner?
3. What does Tomasz suggest at the end?
1. If you have any questions, please call Anna or ___ .
2. ___ and my manager disagree about the deadline.
3. That desk isn't yours — it's ___ .
4. Sorry, I can't ___ with all this noise.
5. The software updates ___ automatically every night.
12 quick questions on Personal, Possessive & Reflexive Pronouns. It opens in a new tab, so this lesson stays exactly where you left it.
📝 Take the lesson quiz →