A short guide on how and when to use words such as myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.

Matthew Frederickson

When to use:

1 When you do something to yourself.

Examples:

He is shaving himself.

She hurt herself when she fell off her bike.

They laughed at themselves when they took the wrong road again.

2 When you’re doing something on your own (alone).

Examples:

We painted the room ourselves.

Did you buy this wonderful cake? No, I baked it myself.

Did you employ a web designer to make this website? No, I did it all by myself.

3 When something applies only or especially to you.

Examples:

As for myself, I don’t have an opinion.

And yourself, don’t you want anything to eat?

Do you have any children yourselves?

Is There any Difference Between Myself and By Myself?

The answer is no, if you use it in the meaning of doing something alone.

So you could say: I painted the room myself.

Or: I painted the room by myself.

It’s the same.

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.

For I, use: myself

For you, use: yourself

For he, use: himself

For her, use: herself

For it, use: itself

For we, use: ourselves

For you, in the plural (more than one person) use: yourselves

For they, use: themselves.

Exercise

You can do this quiz online and check your answers, here.

1 She fixes her garden ___________.

2 Have you painted that wall by _______________ or have you had help?

3 He __________ answered the phone.

4 I cut ____________ when I pruned the roses.

5 The lamp charges _____________ when you put it outside in the sunlight.

6 The professor didn’t know the answer to the question ___________ when she addressed her students.

7 The fishes entangled ___________ even more when they were caught in the net.

8 Unfortunately, Grandpa can’t take care of __________ anymore, but he’s too proud to admit it to himself.

9 I’ve already eaten __________, but you should try some of this delicious soup.

10 And what about __________, what do you do?

11 We weren’t so sure of ____________ when we finally decided to buy that expensive house.

12 He bought ____________ a nice pair of new shoes.

Want to do more quizzes about myself, yourself, etc?

Have a look here:

Myself/Yourself/Himself/Herself