Sentence check

I agree that the two sentences you presented sound better. However, gramatically, I think that She carries the purse with herself is correct because the word herself is used for emphasis and clarification. On the other hand, her is also correct because it is not used reflexively, meaning that it is not both the subject and the direct object. The direct object here is purse (which is known by asking the question, "She carries what?").

That was just what I think.

Thanks everyone for the help!

Back to techwriter's query...

I don't know. Although I can't find fault with any of the above reasoning, I still can't believe in the conclusion. If we agree that this logic is correct, then other sentences will succumb to a similar fate. These can't all be wrong:

I brought it with me.
I took it home with me.

I don't accept that "me" is wrong in any of these sentences, or in the original example. But I can't prove WHY.

I think there must be another rule of grammar that we're not seeing. It's like we're playing chess and we've all forgotten the en passant rule, and we're trying to figure out how the pieces could have ended up that way without that rule. I'm sure we're missing something here. I wish I knew what it was.

But on this one, I trust my gut feeling more than I trust the conclusion we get from the rules we've considered.

Rommie

Prepositions that signify position in space block the use of reflexive pronouns. Therefore, it is correct to say "She pushed the cart in front of her" and not "She pushed the cart in front of herself."