student asking question

There seems to be a few prepositions that can be used with "oneself". Could you explain the difference between "for oneself", "by oneself" and "in oneself"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Here, "for oneself" means to do something on your own, rather than having someone else do it, and for one's own purpose or benefit. "By oneself" means without anyone else or alone. "In oneself" means something inside oneself, usually metaphorically. Ex: Find it in yourself to help him. => find the will, energy, or motivation Ex: I made dinner for myself last night. Ex: It feels like I did the group project by myself.

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