Chapter XLII: Compound Personal Pronouns

=151.= Besides the personal pronouns that have already been considered there are certain other forms such as _myself_ and _ourselves_, formed by uniting the noun _self_ to a singular personal pronoun, and the noun _selves_ to a plural personal pronoun.

These are called =compound personal pronouns=.

_First person_ myself, ourselves
_Second person_ thyself, yourself, yourselves
_Third person_ himself, herself, itself, themselves

What is the number of each of these pronouns?

=152.= Compound personal pronouns are never in the possessive case. They never change their form for case, but are in the nominative or the objective case according to their use. They have two main uses:—

(1) A compound personal pronoun may be used for emphasis, and is then in apposition with the noun it makes emphatic; as, “Cæsar himself refused the crown.” The pronoun does not always come next to the noun. We may say, “Cæsar refused the crown himself.” The pronoun is in the same case as the word it goes with.

(2) It may be used reflexively, that is, to show that an action comes back to the doer of it; as, “I scratched myself with a pin.” Here the pronoun is object of a verb, hence in the objective case.

It may also be the object of a preposition; as, “I was talking to myself.”

It may even be an indirect object; as, “She bought herself a watch.”

NOTE.—The compound personal pronoun is used as object of a
preposition in some familiar idiomatic expressions; as, “He was
_beside himself_ with joy.” “She was sitting _all by herself_.”

=Summary.=—The =compound personal pronouns= are _myself_, _ourselves_, _thyself_, _yourself_, _yourselves_, _himself_, _herself_, _itself_, and _themselves_.

They are commonly used for two purposes:—

(1) For emphasis, (2) reflexively.

=Exercise.=—Select and parse all the compound personal pronouns in the following sentences. Tell their person, number, case, and use.

1. Love thyself last.

2. The men folks, having worked in the regular hours, lie down
and rest, stretch themselves idly in the shade at noon, or
lounge about after supper.

3. Very stupid people are never aware of their stupidity
themselves.

4. On cold, stormy evenings we would make ourselves toast at
the sitting room fire, and eat our supper on the little sewing
table.

5. At the more remote end of the island Legrand had built
himself a small hut.

6. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.

7. Now make yourselves at home, and if you find an eel’s head,
you may bring it to me.

8. The little fox ground his pearly milk teeth into the mouse
with a rush of inborn savageness that must have surprised even
himself.

9. They were returning home for the holidays in high glee, and
promising themselves a world of enjoyment.

10. Pity for his gallant horse, rage and mortification at the
ridiculous plight he was in, anxiety lest he should be late
for the tournament, all combined to make the baron for a time
beside himself.

11. Rivermouth itself is full of hints and flavors of the sea.

12. I think the ugly duckling will grow up strong, and be able
to take care of himself.

13. With what awe, yet with what pride, did I look forward to
the day when I myself should enter the doorway of the high
school.

14. That I may have nobody to blame but myself should my
marriage turn out amiss, I will choose for myself.

15. Although the English and we ourselves both speak the same
tongue, we do not speak it in the same way.

16. Heaven helps those who help themselves.

Analyze sentences 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11.