Question

read the sentence.
we decided to audition for the television show.

how should the writer revise the sentence to correctly include a reflexive pronoun?

• we decided to audition for the television show itself.
• we ourself decided to audition for the television show.
• we decided to audition for the television show ourselves.
• we ourselves decided to audition for the television show.

Explanation:

Identify the target pronoun type

The question asks to revise the sentence "We decided to audition for the television show" to correctly include a reflexive pronoun. A reflexive pronoun is used when the subject and the object of a verb are the same person or thing. For the subject "We", the corresponding reflexive pronoun is "ourselves".

Analyze the function of the pronoun in each option

• "itself" in the first option refers to "the television show", which is not the subject performing the action.
• "ourself" in the second option is grammatically incorrect because "we" is plural and requires the plural ending "-selves".
• "We decided to audition for the television show ourselves." uses "ourselves" as an intensive pronoun (or emphatic reflexive pronoun) to emphasize that "we" did it without help, but grammatically it is positioned at the end of the clause.
• "We ourselves decided to audition..." uses "ourselves" immediately after the subject as an intensive pronoun.
• Looking closely at the grammatical distinction: a true reflexive pronoun acts as an object of a verb or preposition where the action reflects back to the subject. In "We decided to audition for the television show ourselves", "ourselves" functions as a reflexive pronoun acting as the object of the preposition "for" (meaning "for our own benefit" or "by ourselves"). Thus, "We decided to audition for the television show ourselves" correctly incorporates the reflexive pronoun "ourselves" to complete the meaning of the action reflecting back to the subject.

Answer:

• We decided to audition for the television show itself.
• We ourself decided to audition for the television show.
• We decided to audition for the television show ourselves. (Correct answer)
• We ourselves decided to audition for the television show.