What is correct
Sometimes I cook for myself
or
Sometimes I cook myself.
This sounds like cooking self, which is not true. I've heard ( most of times ) people use second phrase. Which of the two is correct ?.
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Look for yourself, there's a previous post on ELU on this, I am quite certain.– KrisSep 4, 2014 at 12:30
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When you cook yourself, you don't cook your self, you do it by yourself.– KrisSep 4, 2014 at 12:31
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2 Answers
Both are correct but with slightly different meaning.
Sometimes I cook for myself implies that usually you eat meals prepared for you by other people.
Sometimes I cook myself implies that you usually do not prepare meals.
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sorry for delayed response but, "cooking for myself" means eat meals cooked by self. "cook myself" sounds like cook self, which sounds incorrect "technically" speaking.– nishSep 24, 2014 at 6:11
The former is certainly correct.
The latter is incorrect - it is ambiguous and redundant.
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It would take Tommy Cooper to make the second sentence sound ambiguous. In speech, stress patterns remove all hint of ambiguity. The 'myself' is not redundant; it's there to emphasise. It's standard usage; doubtless the canonical structure is Sometimes I myself cook, but most people would shun this to avoid sounding like Jeeves in the 1930s. Chenmunka gives the correct answer. Sep 4, 2014 at 7:45
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The second version is likely to be unambiguous when spoken, but can easily be misinterpreted in its written form.– Simon BSep 18, 2015 at 15:01