英语语法：148 “Myself”

Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is how to use the word “myself.”

Misusing¹ “myself” is definitely one of the top things people complain to me about. Here's an example:

<caller comment>

The caller is right; people seem to be so afraid to use the words “me” and “I,” that they substitute “msyelf” in all kinds of inappropriate places.

“Me” Is the Object Pronoun

It's common to hear people say things like this: Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, or myself with questions. Here's why that's wrong: the position of Squiggly, Aardvark, and the incorrect “myself” in the sentence is the object position, and “me” is the object pronoun you use to refer to yourself in a sentence like that.

An Easy Trick

The quick and dirty tip to get it right is to think about how you would say the sentence without Squiggly and Aardvark.

So here we go. You'd probably say, “Please contact me.”

I don't know why people mess it up more when there are multiple people in the sentence, but they do. It's not as if I've never heard anyone say, “Please contact myself,” but that kind of error is much more rare.

So once you know how to figure it out with just one person, you simply add in the other people: Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, and me with questions. (We learned back in March in episode 163 that you always put yourself last in a list like that.)

“I” Is the Subject Pronoun

Is the rule any different when you're dealing² with the subject of a sentence? No, but I hear errors like this all the time: Aardvark and myself will quench³ the fire.

That's wrong because Aardvark and the incorrect “myself” are in the subject position, and “I” is the subject pronoun you use to refer to yourself.

Again, try the one-person-limit test. The sentence is “I will quench the fire.” Once you have that, you can start adding in other people, again, keeping yourself last in the list: Aardvark and I will quench the fire.

“Myself” Is the Reflexive Pronoun

So by now you're probably asking when is it OK to use “myself”?

The word “myself” is what's called a reflexive pronoun. Think about looking in a mirror and seeing your reflection. You'd say, “I see myself in the mirror.” You see your reflection, and “myself” is a reflexive pronoun.

Other reflexive pronouns include “himself,” “herself,” “yourself,” “itself,” “themselves,” and so on.

You use reflexive pronouns to refer to the subject of a sentence again, later in the sentence. For example, you could say, “I see myself playing marimbas,” or, “I'm going to treat myself to a mud bath.” In both these cases you are the object of your own action; the subject is “I” and you use “myself” to refer back to that “I.”

If you're an astute⁴ listener, you will have noticed that “myself” is in the object position in the sentence “I see myself,” but I said earlier that “me” was the object pronoun.

Here's the rub. You use regular object pronouns when the subject and object are different, and the reflexive pronoun when they are the same. That's why it's right to say both “I saw him,” and “He saw himself.”

In “I saw him,” the subject and object are different people, so you use the object pronoun, “him.”

In “He saw himself,” the subject and object are the same person, so you use the reflexive pronoun, “himself.”

Again, it can help to remember the reflection analogy for reflexive pronouns. You have the real person (the subject) and the reflection (the object that is a reflexive pronoun).

“Myself Is Also a Intensive Pronoun

Reflexive pronouns can also be used to add emphasis to a sentence. (In case you care, then they're called intensive pronouns.) For example, if you had witnessed a murder, you could say, “I myself saw the madman's handiwork.” It's dramatic, but it's also grammatically correct.

If you want to emphasize how proud you are of your new artwork, you could say, “I painted it myself.” Again, “myself” just adds emphasis. The meaning of the sentence doesn't change if you take out the word “myself”; it just has a different feeling because now it lacks the added emphasis.

Summary

There you go! The quick and dirty tip is to think about how you would write the sentence if you were the only one in it, and then use that pronoun. For example, “Please contact me.” You can also remember that it's OK to use reflexive pronouns for emphasis and when the subject and object in the sentence are the same.

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That's all. Thank for listening.

 

1 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 quench   

vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制

参考例句：

• The firemen were unable to quench the fire.消防人员无法扑灭这场大火。
• Having a bottle of soft drink is not enough to quench my thirst.喝一瓶汽水不够解渴。

4 astute   

adj.机敏的，精明的

参考例句：

• A good leader must be an astute judge of ability.一个优秀的领导人必须善于识别人的能力。
• The criminal was very astute and well matched the detective in intelligence.这个罪犯非常狡猾，足以对付侦探的机智。

5 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。