myself

The reflexive and intensive pronoun myself is often used incorrectly. The following guidelines show the standard and non-standard uses of myself.

Standard use

There are two correct ways to use the pronoun myself.

  • To reflect the action back onto I, me or my:
    • I hurt myself skydiving.
    • The instructor helped me strap myself into the parachute.
    • My plan was to hurl myself out of a plane once a week.
  • To emphasize the subject I:
    • I will build the tree house myself.
    • I myself have no objections.

Non-standard use

When writing, avoid using myself to replace I or me as the subject or object of a verb.

  • Greg, Tim and I (not Greg, Tim and myself) walked home.
  • Meg let Jan and me (not Jan and myself) use her computer.

Copyright notice for Writing Tips Plus

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Search by related themes

Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.