yourself

yourselfpronoun

Yourself stands for the person spoken to, used as the object of their own action or to stress that they, no one else, did or were affected by something.

1. reflexiveused as the object of a verb or preposition when the action affects the person spoken to, the same person who is the subject

   Yourself is used when the subject and the object of the same clause refer to the same person: did you hurt yourself? It is not just another way of saying you: use you when the object is a different person from the subject, I'll call you, not I'll call yourself.

   • Did you hurt yourself?
   • Help yourself to some coffee.
   • You should be proud of yourself.
   • Take a look at yourself in the mirror.

   Collocations

   phrase help yourself, enjoy yourself, behave yourself

   For translators (sense 1)

   Grammar trap English marks a reflexive pronoun with its own form (yourself, himself, herself, 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.

2. for emphasisused after a noun or pronoun, or alone, to show that the person spoken to, and no one else, did something or was affected

   This emphatic use often comes right after the subject or at the end of the clause: you yourself said so; did you make this yourself?

   • You yourself said the plan wouldn't work.
   • Did you paint this yourself?

See also you; yourselves