Difference Between Him & Himself

If you have ever typed text in Microsoft Word, you might have encountered the issue of the word “himself” being underlined with a green line. This suggests that you may have made an error and used “himself” when you should have used “him.” Many individuals frequently make mistakes with these two words. This article aims to clarify the proper usage of these two terms.

Pronouns in English have reflexive forms, such as “myself” for “I,” “himself” for “he,” “herself” for “she,” “ourselves” for “we,” “themselves” for “they,” and so on. The crucial rule to remember for using reflexive pronouns is that they are necessary when the object in a sentence is the same as the subject. Reflexive pronouns are also employed to emphasize the subject and as an object of prepositions. Consider the following examples:

Subject and object are the same

• My little daughter loves to dress herself without taking my help.
• She injured herself while cutting vegetables.
• The cat scratched itself when she was troubled by fleas.

Putting an emphasis

• The great man himself signed the cap for his little fan.
• I have done it myself.

To describe similar feelings

• Helen was very sad after the death of her father. I, myself, was sad because of her.

Key Takeaways

• Reflexive pronouns are used instead of repeating the pronoun in a sentence.
• “Himself” is a reflexive pronoun for “he.”
• “Himself” is used to emphasize and also when the object and the subject are the same.