DictionaryAI

ourselves

pronoun
ow-ur-SELVZ/aʊɚˈsɛlvz/UKow-uh-SELVZ/aʊəˈsɛlvz/

3 meanings of ourselves

Practice

  1. 1
    back to uspronounreflexive
    Used instead of "us" when the same people both do and receive the action.

    Like a mirror: the action comes back to the same people who started it.

    We taught ourselves to play chess over the summer.

    We should keep this news to ourselves until it is official.

    UsageUse it when we do something to us: we enjoyed ourselves, keep it to ourselves.

    Note
  2. 2
    pronounemphatic
    Used to stress that it is we who do or feel something, often with no help from anyone else.

    Like underlining a word to show you really mean it.

    We built the entire treehouse ourselves.

    We ourselves had never seen the ocean before that trip.

    UsagePut it after we to stress who (we ourselves), or at the end, usually to mean with no help (we did it ourselves).

  3. 3
    meaning youpronouncolloquial
    Used to mean 'you' when speaking kindly to someone, like a nurse or teacher. It can sound like talking down.

    Are we all enjoying ourselves this evening?

    The nurse asked the old man, "Have we been looking after ourselves?"

    UsageUsually in a question with we: are we enjoying ourselves?

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of ourselves apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from "our" plus "-selves."

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact