WORD FOR THE DAY – “reflexive” (adj.) “Grammar. 1. (of a verb) taking a subject and object with identical referents, as with ‘shave,’ I shave myself. (of a pronoun) used as an object to refer to the subject of a verb, as ‘myself,’ in I shave myself; 2. “(n.) Grammar. A reflexive verb or pronoun.” (dictionary dot com) Also, “reflecting back on the subject, like a mirror.” (EnglishClub.com)

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A word about "myself" and other pronouns

( ME )

( MYSELF )

( and I )

Like fingernails. Scratching. The incorrect use of “myself,” (himself, herself, yourself, itself, and plurals, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves) makes me cringe, just as I do when fingernails are drawn slowly across a chalkboard. So, to save others from the awful grimace I make (and wrinkles I may create for myself), I’m reviewing the proper use of pronouns, including “myself” and other “selves.”

For example, look at the following sentences. Reflexive pronouns are always objects. Reflexives reflect back to the subject, like a mirror, and are the same as the subject.

   • I want to see it for myself. (subject = I) (verb = want) (object = myself)

   • He had to hear it for himself.

   • We cleaned up after ourselves.

   • They were ashamed of themselves.

Now, don’t be fooled. Even though the following pronouns mirror one another, they’re called something else (although, I’ve seen them called “reflective.”) Intensive pronouns appear next to the subject of the sentence and are used for emphasis. They can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence. Grammatically, they are correct.

   • I myself had come to appreciate his expertise.

   • He himself had to apologize for the error.           

   • We ourselves had no clue about how to fix the problem.

However, there are ways pronouns, especially “myself,” are used incorrectly. That is when they’re substituted for “I” and “me,” etc. It seems compound subjects confuse many.

   • Incorrect: Nancy and myself will organize the files. Correct: Nancy and I will organize the files.

   • Incorrect: My representative or myself will be happy to call. Correct: My representative or I will be happy to call.

In these particular cases, the pronoun “I” is the subject of the sentence. (Test yourself: Use only one person as the subject when you read the sentences. So, you’d say, I will organize the files, and, I will be happy to call.)

Here are other examples where pronouns are used as compound objects:

   • Incorrect: Send an e-mail response to Jerry and myself. Correct: Send an e-mail response to Jerry and me.

   • Incorrect: Contact Sue or myself if you will attend the party. Correct: Contact Sue or me if you will attend the party.

     (Test yourself: Use only one person as the object when you read the sentences. So, you’d say, Send an e-mail response to me, and, Contact me if you will attend the party, and, She saw me about an upgrade.  

Did this short discussion answer a few questions about pronoun usage? It did for myself, I mean, for me. (Yikes. Fingernails, again!) Yes. Sometimes, we can all do with a pronoun review.