Me, myself, I — which is correct?
Writing for Business
Which is correct?
I requested copies of the marketing report for other team members and ____.
a. me
b. myself
c. I
Answer: b
Explanation:
Here you have it — one of only two ways you can correctly refer to yourself AS “yourself.” The other way is as added emphasis, as in “I, myself, find it almost unbearable when people refer to themselves incorrectly by a reflexive pronoun.”
Use the old trick of taking the other person out of the equation:
I requested a copy of the report for myself. (You wouldn’t say “I requested a copy of the report for me” or “I requested a copy of the report for I,” right?)
It’s reflexive because the subject (I) is the same person as the object (myself).
It works the same way as:
I embarrassed myself.
I treated myself.
I hurt myself.
I overextended myself.
I convinced myself.
Only I can do anything to “myself,” grammatically speaking. No one else can call “myself.” Likewise, no one can do anything along with “myself.”
Although this may sound harsh, yourself is incapable of conducting any kind of business. “You” on the other hand, might make the cover of Forbes — and be grammatically correct in your interview to boot.
See more about first person pronoun errors here.
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