Themselves vs Themself ? What is the difference?

Vocabulary / By

Themselves is correct and a reflexive pronoun in English. Themself is only used in English when “they” is singular.

They need to bake the cake themselves.

Themselves

Themselves is the reflexive pronoun for the pronoun “they”. We use a pronoun in place of a noun when we don’t want to state the noun. A reflexive pronoun is when the pronoun is both the subject and the object of the sentence. This happens for example when the person(or people in this case) is both the doer and receiver of an action. 

They had to cut the grass themselves. They had no gardener. 

Themself

Themself is also possible in English. The pronoun “they” can be singular or plural in English. 

“Themself” can only be used when the subject “they” is treated as singular. 

We use “themself” when we use “singular they”. “Singular they” is often used with words like “someone”, “anyone”, or “no one”. 

Someone painted themself green!

Can anyone dry themself without a towel? 

“Themself” can also be used for non-binary people who don’t identify with male or female genders and prefer to use the pronoun “they”.

Joanie did it for themself.   

Them self

“Them self” is not used as a reflexive pronoun in English. You should use “themselves” or “themself”.  

Conor
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