UNIT 82. Myself/ yourself/ themselves etc. ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

UNIT 82. Myself/ yourself/ themselves etc.

A	Study this example: The reflexive pronouns are: singular: myself yourself (one person) himself/herself/itself plural: ourselves yourselves (more than one person) themselves √ I don't want you to pay for me. I'll pay for myself. (not I'll pay for me) Amy had a great holiday. She really enjoyed herself. Do you talk to yourself sometimes? (said to one person) If you want more to eat, help yourselves. (said to more than one person) √ √ √ Compare: √ It's not our fault. You can't blame us. It's our own fault. We should blame ourselves. √
B	We do not use myself etc. after feel/ relax/ concentrate/ meet: √ I feel nervous. I can't relax. You must try and concentrate. (not concentrate yourself) What time shall we meet? (not meet ourselves, not meet us) √ √ We normally use wash/ shave/ dress without myself etc. : √ He got up, washed, shaved and dressed. (not washed himself etc.) You can also say get dressed (He got dressed).
C	Compare -selves and each other: √ Kate and Joe stood in front of the mirror and looked at themselves. (= Kate and Joe looked at Kate and Joe) Kate looked at Joe; Joe looked at Kate. They looked at each other. √ You can use one another instead of each other: √ How long have you and Ben known each other?             or ... known one another? Sue and Alice don't like each other.                                  or ... don't like one another. Do you and Sarah live near each other?                            or ... near one another? √ √
D	We also use myself/yourself etc. in another way. For example: √ 'Who repaired your bike for you?' 'I repaired it myself.' I repaired it myself =I repaired it, not anybody else. Here, myself is used to emphasise 'I' (= it makes it stronger). Some more examples: √ I'm not going to do your work for you. You can do it yourself. (=you, not me) Let's paint the house ourselves. It will be much cheaper. The film itself wasn't very good, but I loved the music. I don't think Lisa will get the job. Lisa herself doesn't think so. (or Lisa doesn't think so herself.) √ √ √

EXERCISES

82.1	Complete the sentences using myself/yourself etc.+ these verbs (in the correct form): blame burn enjoy express hurt introduce put 1 Steve _____introduced himself_______ to the other guests at the party. 2 Ben fell down some steps, but fortunately he didn't ____________________. It isn't Sue's fault. She really shouldn't____________________. Please try and understand how I feel____________________ in my position. 3 4 5 The children had a great time at the beach. They really ____________________ . Be careful! That pan is very hot. Don't ____________________. Sometimes I can't say exactly what I mean. I wish I could ____________________ better. 6 7
82.2	Put in myself/yourself/ourselves etc. or me/you/us etc. 1 Amy had a great holiday. She enjoyed ____herself_________. 2 It's not my fault. You can't blame ____________________. What I did was really bad. I'm ashamed of ____________________. We've got a problem. I hope you can help ____________________. 'Can I take another biscuit?' 'Of course. Help ____________________!' 3 4 5 6 You must meet Sarah. I'll introduce ____________________ to her. Don't worry about us. We can take care of ____________________. Don't worry about the children. I'll take care of ____________________. I gave them a key to our house so that they could let ____________________ in. 7 8 9
82.3	Complete these sentences. Use myself/yourself etc. only where necessary. Use these verbs (in the correct form): concentrate defend shave dry feel meet relax 1 Martin decided to grow a beard because he was fed up with _____shaving______. 2 I wasn't very well yesterday, but I ____________________ much better today. I climbed out of the swimming pool and ____________________ with a towel. I tried to study, but I couldn't ____________________. 3 4 5 If somebody attacks you, you need to be able to ____________________. I'm going out with Chris this evening. We're ____________________ at 7.30. You're always rushing around. Why don't you sit down and ____________________? 6 7
82.4	Complete the sentences with ourselves/themselves or each other. 1 How long have you and Ben known _____each other_____? 2 If people work too hard, they can make ____________________ ill. I need you and you need me. We need ____________________ In Britain friends often give ____________________ presents at Christmas. Some people are very selfish. They only think of ____________________. 3 4 5 6 Tracy and I don't see ____________________ very often these days. We couldn't get back into the house. We had locked ____________________ out. They've had an argument. They're not speaking to ____________________ at the moment. We'd never met before, so we introduced ____________________ to ____________________. 7 8 9
82.5	Complete the answers to the questions using myself/yourself/itself etc.

ANSWER KEY