Three ways you shouldn’t use ‘myself’

Apart from being commonly used, ‘myself’ is a word that many pupils often first encounter in foundation schools. In composition writing, teachers like asking them to write on ‘Myself’. Or is this an outdated practice? An old school idea?

Well, I vividly remember that our teachers used to ask us to write on the topic (and others such as My Mother, My Father, My Best Friend and My Hometown) when I was a pupil at Ibadan District Council School, Solalu, in Akinyele Local Government of Oyo State. You laugh or murmur at the name of my great school and I send you out of this class! With a possible six months’ suspension.

In spite of such an early exposure to ‘myself’, it remains one of the most misused words. As an emphatic pronoun, it is used to emphasise the role played by ‘I’ or ‘me’ in a clause:

I myself went there. (Not any other person.)

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I collected the book myself. (No one else received it.)

Also, as a reflexive pronoun, ‘myself’ can function as the object of the clause – receiving the action. (A reflexive pronoun is a word that ends with -self or -selves, used when the subject and the object of a sentence is the same:

I blame myself for arriving late. (Who did I blame? Myself.)

I ended up hurting myself by not lending him the money. (Who did I hurt? Myself.)

The above are the legitimate or standard ways of using the word. You must have observed that himself, herself, yourself, yourselves, themselves, which are other examples of reflexive pronouns, are used in similar contexts. What this means is that in most other situations people use ‘myself’, there is bound to be issues.

Don’t use ‘myself’ as the subject of the clause.

This is one context many misplace it:

Myself went there. (Wrong)

I went there. I myself went there. I went there myself. (Correct)

Myself washed all the clothes. (Wrong)

I washed all the clothes. I myself washed all the clothes.          I washed all the clothes myself. (Correct)

Even in combined subjects, ‘myself’ is unacceptable no matter how you position it:

Myself and my mum prepared the food. (Wrong)

My mum and myself prepared the food. (Wrong)

My mum and I prepared the food. (Correct)

My mum and I prepared the food ourselves. (Correct)

‘Myself’ shouldn’t be used as an object where ‘I’ is not the subject!

Biola abused myself. (Wrong)

Biola abused me. (Correct)

I abused myself. (Correct)

They dedicated it to myself. (Wrong)

They dedicated it to me. (Correct)

I dedicated it to myself. (Correct)

She wants to pamper myself and my mum. (Wrong)

She wants to pamper my mum and myself. (Wrong)

She wants to pamper my mum and me. (Correct)

I want to pamper my mum and myself. (Correct)

So, it is only when the subject is the speaker (I) that ‘myself’ can be the object.