Myself usage

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anniesse

#27278 Wed, 07 Apr 04 11:52 PM

I'm very confused about the way people use "myself". As far as I know it can be used as reflexive or intensive pronoun, but sometimes people say "It was Vince, Sharon and myself" or "Vince, Sharon and myself went to a restaurant". This way it doesn't look like either on. Is this usage correct?
Thank you

anniesse

Joined on Wed, Apr 7 2004

New Member (03)

Nouns, Pronouns

rommie

#27305 Thu, 08 Apr 04 08:59 AM

Well spotted, Anniesse. Both of the examples you cite are grammatically incorrect. In both of the above examples, "myself" should be replaced with "me".

Rommie

rommie

Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004

Earth orbit

Regular Member (606)

anniesse

#27375 Thu, 08 Apr 04 11:32 PM

Thanks for the response. I'd like to point out though that I thought "myself" in these examples should be replaced with "I". Can I ask you what guidelines you used to answer my question.
Thank you again,
Anna

anniesse

Guest

#37949 Sun, 18 Jul 04 07:10 AM

I'm no expert on the subject. But I am quite sure that it should be replaced with the pronoun 'I' , not 'me' as was suggested. It would be incorrec to say 'Shelley and me went to the beach. ' Not only does it sound bad, the use of 'me' as the subject is wrong. It can only be used in the accusative form or more commonly known as the object of the verb. I am pretty sure that it should be 'I' but if anyone is willing to doubt me on this, drop me a line. (I'm 99.9% sure i'm correct, but maybe there is some technicality that I am missing.

Guest

Verbs, Nouns, Pronouns, Accusative

mask

#37969 Sun, 18 Jul 04 11:53 AM

In the first of the sentences that we're discussing, I/me was used not as object but as subject complement. In this postition usage varies, although the object form seems to be more common.

"It was I" vs "It was me"

When it comes to the second one, you are right that me is "wrong".

mask

Joined on Sun, Feb 22 2004

Junior Member (56)

Anonymous

#119638 Tue, 19 Jul 05 07:17 PM

"Myself" is a compound personal pronoun. In the sentences you provided, "myself" would be replaced with "I." A common misuse of the word "myself" is in a sentence such as "The three members at this point are expected to be John Doe, Jane Doe, and myself." This is incorrect. The sentence should read "The three members at this point are expected to be John Doe, Jane Doe, and me."

Anonymous

Nouns, Pronouns

Anonymous

#119973 Thu, 21 Jul 05 03:35 AM

It should be "The three members at this point are expected to be John Doe, Jane Doe, and I" because it's a predicate nominative, which requires the subject form of a pronoun. The two examples given by the original poster both require "I" because in the first sentence, "myself" is in the position of a predicate nominative, and in the second sentence, "myself" is in the position of the subject.

Anonymous

Nouns, Pronouns, Predicates, Nominative

CalifJim

#119987 Thu, 21 Jul 05 04:39 AM

The so-called object pronouns are actually acceptable in the "predicate nominative" position according to many modern grammarians. Some say that it has been only the tendency of English grammarians throughout the centuries to create rules for English in imitation Latin grammar that has led to the idea that the object pronouns are wrong after the verb "to be". The advice more recently is to abandon grammatical explanations based on Latin. In conformance with this view perhaps we should begin to call the "object pronouns" "post-verbal pronouns"!

Note that in practical terms, the expression in everyday conversation is often "I'm the one who ...", where the choice of "I" or "me" doesn't even arise.

CJ