Langeek
Sign in
HomeVocabularyGrammarAppDictionary

Me vs. Myself

personal pronounsobject pronounsreflexive pronounsmemyself

'Me' and 'myself' are both objects that refer to the same person, but they cannot be used in place of one another. Let's see.

What is the difference between "me" and "myself"

Main Difference

'Me' and 'myself' are both pronouns. 'Myself' is the reflexive form of the pronoun 'I', and 'me' is the object pronoun of 'I'.

Myself

'Myself' can take two roles in a sentence. It can be:

  • Emphatic Pronoun

We use 'myself' to put emphasis on the doer of the action in a sentence.

I talked to her myself.

  • Reflexive Pronoun

We use 'myself' to indicate that the speaker of the sentence is doing something to him or herself. In this case, we use a reflexive pronoun.

I burned myself while ironing.

I cut myself when I was shaving.

When Can We Use 'Myself'?

'Myself' can only be used in these two circumstances:

  1. When the subject and the object of a verb is the same person.
  2. When you want to emphasize the subject 'I' in a sentence.

In any other situations, use 'me' as the object pronoun.

Can 'Myself' be the Subject?

'Myself' alone can never be the subject of a sentence. It is always used as the object.

Myself went to the mall.

This is wrong. 'Myself' cannot be used as the subject. You can say 'I myself went to the mall'.

Is 'Myself' More Polite?

You cannot use an emphatic pronoun to sound formal or polite. It is grammatically incorrect. 'Myself' can either be an emphatic pronoun or reflexive pronoun. You cannot use it for any other reason. You cannot use it instead of 'me' to sound more formal or more polite.

You are required to submit the proposal to myself.

Incorrect

You are required to submit the proposal to me.

Correct

Please call Sara and myself at your earliest convenience.

Incorrect

Please call Sara and me at your earliest convenience.

Correct

Pay Attention!

Remember that 'myself' is either reflexive (I'm doing something to/for myself) or emphatic (I myself). Otherwise, use 'me'.

When We Must Use 'Myself' instead of 'Me'?

After the prepositions of 'to' and 'by' we can use reflexive pronouns, but after prepositions of place, we use object pronouns.

I live by myself.

Correct

I live by me.

Incorrect

I had the apartment all to myself for a night.

Correct

I had the apartment all to me for a night.

Incorrect

Don't Use 'Me' as an Intensifier

You cannot use 'me' as intensifiers or with reflexive verbs.

I hit myself in the head!

Correct

I hit me in the head!

Incorrect

I talked to him myself.

Correct

I talked to him me.

Incorrect

Comments

Sign in
  • linkedin
  • linkedin
  • facebook
  • facebook
  • email

You might also like

I vs. Me

'I' and 'me' are both words that mean the same thing, but each one must be used in a different circumstance. To know about this issue, start here.

I vs. Myself

Do you know what is the difference between 'I' and 'Myself'? They are both pronouns, both refer to the same person. But they are not interchangeable. Why?

You Singular or Plural

For 2nd person singular and plural, formal or informal, we only have one pronoun in English today. So aren't you curious to know how do we tell the difference?

You vs. Yourself

'Yourself' is a second person singular reflexive pronoun, 'you' is the second person personal pronoun both singular and plural. Can they be interchangeable?

He vs. Him

Which one is grammatically correct? 'I invited his parents, his girlfriend and he?' or 'I invited his parents, his girlfriend and him?' Let's find out!

He vs. His

'He' and 'his' are two examples of gender-specific words in the English language. One is a personal pronoun, the other is a possessive determiner and pronoun.

Download LanGeek app for free