What are general guidelines for the use of "me" and "myself"?
Did I describe me or did I describe Maria?
OR
Did I describe myself or did I describe Maria?
asked Jan 9, 2011 at 2:13
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1 Answer
The two parts separated by or are complete, independent sentences. As such, the presence of the second half ("did I describe Maria") has no impact on the first half at all.
Thus, the question is, which of these two is correct:
Did I describe me?
Did I describe myself?
The answer is (2), because myself is the object of the sentence, and I is the subject. Outside of stylized usage, if the (grammatical) subject and object are the same entity, the reflexive must be used for the object.
- John hit him. (John and him are different people)
- John hit himself. (John and himself are the same person)
- John hit John. (must be two different people named John)
So, to sum up:
- I hit him. (grammatical)
- *I hit himself. (ungrammatical, because subj. and obj. aren't same entity)
- *I hit me. (ungrammatical, because I and me are the same entity)
answered Jan 9, 2011 at 5:52
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'Outside of stylized usage, if the (grammatical) subject and object are the same entity, the reflexive must be used for the object.' No. Kŏnig and Gast_ResearchGate attempt to rationalise the actual situation: << 1.1 Optional reflexives In [English] reflexive pronouns are optional in cases like the following: (9) a. John saw a snake near him/himself.... Commented Jan 24, 2022 at 14:19
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b. Mary pushed the brandy away from her/herself. c. Liz wrapped the rug around her/herself. // ... // 1.3 Unexpected personal pronouns Among the peculiarities of English also the following structures have to be listed: (11) a. John did not have any money on him (/*himself). b. He likes having children around him. c. Mary has a whole week of travelling before her. d. Mary put all her problems behind her. In sentences such as these reflexive anaphors are excluded. >> Commented Jan 24, 2022 at 14:19