Tag archives: pronouns

Should it be everyone for themself where grammar’s concerned?

Where do you stand regarding the pronoun, themself? Is it perfectly OK to use it, or do you reckon that it’s beyond the pale? When I blogged about reflexive pronouns a while ago, I promised to revisit this grammatical outsider. Judging by the debate on the Net, themself stirs up much passion, with several pundits [...]

Posted on: January 15 2013 | Posted by: | Comments: 7 | Categories: Grammar and writing help | Tags: , , , , ,

Some reflections on reflexives

Myself and my wife have for some time been amazed at the appalling driving habits of the general population of Grantham. When you read the above sentence, what goes through your mind? Do you think ‘What a perceptive comment, and what an elegant turn of phrase’ or does your internal grammar monitor shriek ‘Eek! Yet [...]

Posted on: November 7 2012 | Posted by: | Comments: 2 | Categories: Grammar and writing help | Tags: , , ,

Faceoff: ‘he’, ‘he or she’, ‘he/she’, ‘s/he’ versus ‘they’

I enjoy reading your comments on Oxford’s blog posts: they provide an invaluable insight into your language concerns, likes, and dislikes. Your remarks strengthen my awareness that we have a sophisticated and grammatically knowledgeable audience: this keeps me on my toes, to say the least. Of course, I always aim to stay within the bounds [...]

Posted on: June 6 2012 | Posted by: | Comments: 34 | Categories: Grammar and writing help | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

‘I’ or ‘me’?

Choosing whether to use ‘I’ or ‘me’ can be tricky, but it’s something that often pops up in both written and spoken communications, and it’s important to get it right. As the results of our poll shows, it’s not always clear which is the right choice. Here’s some advice taken from our Better writing section, [...]

Posted on: February 2 2012 | Comments: 1 | Categories: Grammar and writing help | Tags: , , , , , , ,