Ourselves vs. Ourself – Which is Correct?

Both “ourselves” and “ourself” are valid English pronouns, but they serve different purposes. Use “ourselves” as the standard plural reflexive or emphatic form of “we.” Use “ourself” only in specialized contexts where “we” refers to one person, such as a monarch, institution, or speaker using a formal editorial “we” pronoun.

Ourselves or Ourself – Which is Correct?

Both “ourselves” and “ourself” can be correct, but “ourselves” is overwhelmingly more common in everyday American English. It is the reflexive and emphatic form of the plural pronoun we and refers to two or more people.

Ourself is a specialized singular reflexive form of we. It may appear when one person speaks with a formal, institutional, editorial, or royal “we.” It can also occur in dialectal or nonstandard speech, but it is not normally interchangeable with ourselves.

The Best Trick to Remember the Difference

Use the number swap test: if we means several people, choose ourselves. If we intentionally represents one person or a single institution, ourself may be appropriate.

For example, “We prepared ourselves” means several people prepared themselves. However, a monarch might say, “We must remind ourself of the responsibility,” using we to refer to one person. In ordinary writing, ourselves is almost always the safer choice.

Word	Part of Speech	Meaning	Example
ourselves	Plural reflexive pronoun	Refers back to “we” when “we” means multiple people	We organized ourselves into teams.
ourself	Singular reflexive pronoun used with an institutional “we”	Refers back to “we” when “we” represents one person or entity	As the company, we must hold ourself accountable.

How to Use Ourselves

Ourselves is the standard plural reflexive pronoun corresponding to we. Use it when the people performing an action are also receiving or experiencing that action. It is also used for emphasis, usually to stress that the members of a group personally performed an action.

In normal conversation, academic writing, business communication, and professional documents, ourselves is the expected form when we refers to more than one person. It can function as a direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, or emphatic pronoun.

Example 1: We taught ourselves how to use the new software.

Example 2: The volunteers introduced themselves before the meeting began.

Example 3: We ourselves approved the final design.

What are the different forms of Ourselves?

Ourselves does not have verb tenses, comparative forms, or a separate plural form. It is the plural reflexive and emphatic form associated with we. The related pronoun forms are we as the subject, us as the object, our as the possessive determiner, and ours as the possessive pronoun.

These distinctions also clarify why Him and I requires careful attention to pronoun roles in formal writing.

Function	Form	Example
Subject	we	We completed the project.
Object	us	The coach praised us.
Reflexive or emphatic	ourselves	We prepared ourselves.

Etymology of the Word Ourselves

Ourselves combines the possessive form our with selves, the plural form of self. Old and Middle English used related combinations to express reflexive meaning. The modern form developed as English increasingly used compound reflexive pronouns such as myself, yourself, and themselves.

How to Use Ourself

Ourself is a singular reflexive pronoun used with a plural-sounding we that represents one person, organization, or institution. This usage is uncommon and marked. It may appear in royal language, formal institutional statements, editorial writing, legal language, or some regional varieties of English.

When an organization speaks as “we,” ourself may emphasize that the organization is being treated as one unit. However, many editors prefer to rewrite the sentence to avoid this unusual pronoun. In everyday writing, use ourselves when we refers to multiple individuals.

Example 1: As the publisher, we must hold ourself responsible for the error.

Example 2: The monarch used the formal royal “we” to refer to ourself in the proclamation.

Example 3: We should not deceive ourself about the seriousness of the situation.

What are the different forms of Ourself?

Ourself is a fixed reflexive form and does not change for tense, number, or degree. It is built from our and the singular noun self. Its use depends on the meaning of we: when we refers to several people, use ourselves; when it represents one speaker or entity in a specialized context, ourself may be used.

Etymology of the Word Ourself

Ourself developed from the combination of our and self. It reflects the historical use of we by a single powerful or official speaker, often called the royal we. The form has also survived in some dialects and institutional styles.

Related Concepts

Understanding pronoun number and reflexive grammar makes the difference between ourselves and ourself much easier to recognize.

• Reflexive pronouns: Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a clause. Examples include myself, yourself, ourselves, and themselves.
• Plural pronouns: Plural pronouns refer to more than one person or thing. Because ordinary we refers to multiple people, its standard reflexive form is ourselves.
• Royal or editorial we: A single speaker may use we to represent an institution, office, editorial board, or monarch. This specialized meaning can allow the singular form ourself.
• Emphatic pronouns: A reflexive pronoun can add emphasis rather than indicate an object. In “We ourselves designed the product,” ourselves emphasizes who designed it.

Examples from Media and Literature

The standard form ourselves appears frequently in books, journalism, speeches, films, and television because writers commonly use it when “we” refers to a group.

• Historical writing: A group of explorers may write, “We challenged ourselves to cross the mountain range,” using ourselves as the object of the verb.
• News reporting: A public official may say, “We must ask ourselves whether the policy is working,” using ourselves to refer to the official and the audience collectively.
• Film dialogue: A team of characters might say, “We need to remind ourselves why we started,” where ourselves refers to all team members.
• Literary narration: A narrator speaking for a family or community may write, “We found ourselves far from home,” using the plural reflexive pronoun naturally.
• Institutional language: A company may write, “We pride ourselves on excellent service.” Although the company is one organization, this conventional expression normally uses ourselves, not ourself.

Practice Exercises

Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

1. After the workshop, we treated ________ to dinner.
2. We should ask ________ whether this decision is fair.
3. As the official representative of the institution, we must hold ________ accountable.
4. The students organized ________ into four discussion groups.
5. We ________ completed the restoration without outside assistance.

Answer Key

1. ourselves — “We” refers to multiple people who treated themselves to dinner.
2. ourselves — The speaker is including multiple people in the question.
3. ourself — The institutional “we” represents one organization or entity.
4. themselves — This sentence uses “the students” as the subject, so the correct reflexive form is themselves.
5. ourselves — The emphatic pronoun refers to multiple people who completed the restoration.

Ourselves Synonyms

Synonym	Definition
us	The objective form of “we”; it refers to the speaker and one or more other people.
we personally	An emphatic phrase highlighting that the speakers themselves performed an action.
the group	A noun phrase that can replace “ourselves” in some contexts involving a collective.
each other	A reciprocal phrase used when members of a group act mutually on one another.

Ourself Synonyms

Synonym	Definition
myself	The standard singular reflexive pronoun for a speaker referring to one person.
the institution itself	A clear noun phrase that can replace the specialized institutional use of “ourself.”
the organization itself	A formal alternative when an organization is treated as a single entity.
personally	An adverb that can express individual involvement or responsibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: Is “ourself” grammatically correct?
Yes, but it is uncommon and specialized. It can be correct when a single person, institution, monarch, or editorial body uses “we” and refers back to that singular entity. In ordinary plural usage, choose ourselves.

Question 2: Should I use “ourselves” or “ourself” in professional writing?
Use ourselves when “we” refers to two or more people. If an organization is speaking as “we,” ourselves is also usually the more natural choice because institutional English commonly treats the organization as a group of people. Consider rewriting an unusual sentence containing ourself.

Question 3: Is “ourself” a mistake?
Not always. It may be intentional in royal, institutional, editorial, legal, or dialectal language. However, readers may regard it as awkward or nonstandard when it appears in an ordinary sentence where ourselves is expected.

Question 4: Is “ourselves” always plural?
In standard modern English, ourselves normally refers to more than one person. It can follow an institutional “we,” even when the organization is grammatically singular, because the organization is often understood as the people who represent it.

Conclusion

Ourselves is the standard choice when we refers to multiple people, whether it is used reflexively or for emphasis. Ourself is a specialized singular form connected with royal, editorial, institutional, or dialectal uses of “we.” Pro Tip: In professional writing, choose ourselves unless you have a clear reason to use the rare form ourself; the familiar standard form protects your clarity and credibility.