English

Pronoun

themself

1. The reflexive form of they, the third-person singular personal pronoun. The single person previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition (also used for emphasis).

   Someone could hurt themself.

   Anyone who wants a car like mine can buy one themself.

   • 2009 January 8, Samantha Maiden, “Hoaxer, out yourself: 'Demidenko'”, in The Australian:

     THE author who masqueraded as Helen Demidenko yesterday urged the hoaxer who deceived the respected right-wing journal Quadrant to unmask themself.

   • 2013 January 8, John Stoltenberg, Gonerz:

     ... somedays there will be an odd number of quadders and so somebody might have to sit by themself in the back.

Usage notes

• The use of themself instead of themselves is sometimes proscribed,^[1] but it is relatively common "considering that singular they is unquestionably far less frequent than plural they".^[2] Furthermore, the use of themself as a singular and themselves as a plural is in "clear parallel [to] common usage of the second-person forms, where yourselves can be contrasted with yourself."^[3]
• For more on the use of they as a singular pronoun, see they.
• For information on the use of he and himself as a generic singular pronoun, see he.

Synonyms

• themselves (more common)
• himself, herself (gender-specific)
• thonself (rare)
• other attested and proposed third-person pronouns

References

1. ↑ Carl W. Hart, Rocket English Grammar (2012, ISBN 1938690214), page 55
2. ↑ Grammar Without Grammaticality: Growth and Limits of Grammatical Precision (2013, ISBN 3110290014), page 56
3. ↑ Laura Paterson, British Pronoun Use, Prescription, and Processing (2014, ISBN 1137332735), page 170