ourselves | TKG English Learner's Dictionary

ourselvespronoun

American /aʊrˈsɛlvz/^? British /aʊəˈselvz/ The stress falls on the second part: our-SELVES.

very commondefining vocabulary

Ourselves refers back to the speaker and at least one other person already meant by we, either as the object of their own action or to show that they, no one else, did it.

reflexiveused as the object of a verb or preposition when the action affects the speaker and the others in the same group, the same people who are the subject
Ourselves is used when the subject and the object of the same clause refer to the same group that includes the speaker: we blamed ourselves. It is not just another way of saying us: when the subject is a different set of people, use us (they invited us).
- We blamed ourselves for the mistake.
- We taught ourselves to cook.
- We looked at ourselves in the photo.
- We're proud of ourselves for finishing the race.
for emphasisused after we, or at the end of a clause, to show that the speaker and others, and no one else, did something or were affected
This emphatic use often comes right after the subject or at the end of the clause: we ourselves don't believe it; we built the shed ourselves.
- We ourselves don't believe it.
- We built the shed ourselves.

Phrases

by ourselves

alone, without other people, or without help

We like to travel by ourselves.
We finished the project by ourselves, without any help.

Word family

we (the subject form)
us (the object form)
our (the possessive, before a noun)
ours (the independent possessive)

Usage

Ourselves refers back to a subject that includes the speaker, usually we, in the same clause; it is not a more polite or formal way of saying us. In they invited us, the subject they does not include the speaker, so us is the form to use.

Common mistakes

They invited ourselves to the party. They invited us to the party.
Ourselves is used only when the subject and the object are the same people; here the subject is they, so the plain object form us is needed.

For translators

Grammar trap English marks a reflexive pronoun with its own form (myself, ourselves, themselves, and so on), different from the ordinary object pronoun; many languages use one reflexive form for every person, or reuse the ordinary object pronoun instead.