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Latest post Wed, Dec 28 2005 6:06 PM by PASTEL. 10 replies.
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PASTEL  +  172901 Wed, 21 Dec 05 05:36 PM

(1)I can do that on my own.
(2)I can do that by myself.

Is there any difference?

 

Thanks,
PASTEL
Joined on Thu, Jul 1 2004
Regular Member 547
LanguageLover  +  172911 Wed, 21 Dec 05 06:06 PM
Not as far as I know.
LanguageLover
Joined on Fri, Feb 25 2005
Contributing Member 1,507
The similarities among the languages are more than their differences!
Related discussions
pieanne  +  172922 Wed, 21 Dec 05 06:40 PM

"By myself" means without any outside help. "on my own" may mean that too, but can also emphasize the solitude.

 
pieanne
Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005
South of France ...But I'm Belgian!
Veteran Member 7,517
I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...
PASTEL  +  172924 Wed, 21 Dec 05 07:01 PM

I live by myself.

I live on my own.

I think the first one means that I live alone; I don't have any roomates. But the second example suggests that I'm independent; I earn my living. I might have a roomate.

What do you think? 

 
PASTEL
Danyoo  +  172976 Wed, 21 Dec 05 08:19 PM

You are right on Pastel.  You hit the nail on the head! (This means you got the exact meaning, in case you didn't know.)

 
Danyoo
Joined on Fri, Nov 11 2005
Chicago, USA
Regular Member 558
To err is human, to forgive divine. 잘못을 저지르는 것은 인간이지만 용서할수있는 것은 하늘과 같은것.
PASTEL, 3 yr 333 days ago
Thanks, Danyoo. Happy New Year to you.
nona the brit  +  174524 Mon, 26 Dec 05 09:53 AM

No I disagree. I live on my own would also mean that no-one else lives with you, it does not mean independence from parents but with other people.

'I don't live at home' is a rather odd way of expressing the independence from parents thing (used by young people).
nona the brit
Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004
England
Veteran Member 11,713
The name says it all.
PASTEL, 3 yr 331 days ago

Can you think of an example that 'on my own' and 'by myself' are not interchangeable?

Thanks,

Danyoo  +  174875 Tue, 27 Dec 05 09:11 AM
I live by myself: This means I live alone.  I don't have a roommate or any other family members living with me.  The meaning is very clear.

I live on my own: I found the following definitions from Cambridge.
(all) on your own
1 alone: I like living on my own.
2 without any help: I did my buttons up all on my own, Mummy.
stand on your own (two) feet INFORMAL
to be able to provide all of the things you need for living without help from anyone else:
She'll have to get a job and learn to stand on her own two feet sooner or later.
On the other hand, dictionary.com has the following meaning:
Idiom:
on (one's) own
  1. By one's own efforts: She got the job on her own.
  2. Responsible for oneself; independent of outside help or control: He is now out of college and on his own.
It could be the difference between BrE and AmE.
Danyoo
,
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