# myself

Pronunciation: say "my-SELF" /maɪˈsɛlf/

## Pronoun

1. Refers back to the speaker as the object of a verb or preposition when the speaker is also its subject.
   - Simple: Used when the speaker is both the one doing an action and the one it happens to.
   - _I taught myself to play the guitar over the summer._
   - _I poured myself a glass of water before sitting down._
2. Used in apposition to 'I' for emphasis, stressing that the speaker personally (and sometimes no one else) performs the action.
   - Simple: Used with 'I' to add force, showing that the speaker personally does or thinks something, often with no one's help.
   - _I myself have always doubted that the figures were accurate._
   - _She let others take the credit, but I wrote the report myself._
3. Used as the object of a verb or preposition in place of 'me' when it does not refer back to the subject, often after 'and'; common, though some style guides advise against it.
   - Simple: Used as an object in place of 'me', even when 'I' is not the subject. Some say this is wrong.
   - _The grant was awarded to Professor Lee and myself._
   - _He directed all his complaints at the manager and myself._
4. Stands in for I as the subject of a verb, typically coordinated with another person by and, in a use often faulted as incorrect.
   - Simple: Used in place of I as a subject, mostly when joined to another person by and. Many call it wrong.
   - _"Coach Rivera and myself want to thank every parent who volunteered," the principal announced._
   - _"Myself and the night staff worked straight through the storm," the manager told reporters._
5. Refers to the speaker's normal condition of body or mind, as in feeling like one's usual self.
   - Simple: Used to talk about the speaker's usual, normal state of body or mind.
   - _I simply wasn't myself during that stressful week at work._
   - _Once the fever broke, I started to feel like myself once more._
7. Used at the start of a self-introduction to state the speaker's own name, in the sense 'my name is'. *(nonstandard, India, Pakistan)*
   - Simple: Used to introduce the speaker by name, meaning 'I am' or 'my name is'.
   - _Myself Anand, calling from the Mumbai branch office._
   - _Welcome, everyone, myself Deepa, and I shall be your guide today._

## Pronoun

6. Used as the subject of a verb in the same role as 'I'; an archaic construction now out of ordinary use. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Used as the subject of a verb, meaning 'I', in older English.

## Origin

Old English mē selfum and similar phrases, made of me + self, gave Middle English myself (also meself); speakers later partly reread it as my + self or -self. Cognates include Scots mysel, West Frisian mysels, Dutch mijzelf, German mich selbst, and Norwegian Bokmål meg selv.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/myself (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).