Definitions
- Referring to a group of people, including the speaker, who are the subject of the sentence. - Talking about an action or feeling that is directed towards the speaker and others in their group. - Emphasizing the reflexive nature of an action or feeling that involves the speaker and others in their group.
- Referring to a group of people, including the speaker, who are the object of the sentence. - Talking about an action or feeling that is directed towards the speaker and others in their group from an external source. - Emphasizing the collective identity of the speaker and others in their group.
List of Similarities
- 1Both refer to a group of people that includes the speaker.
- 2Both can be used as pronouns to replace the group of people in a sentence.
- 3Both emphasize the collective identity of the speaker and others in their group.
What is the difference?
- 1Function: Ourselves is used as the subject or object of a sentence, while us is only used as the object of a sentence.
- 2Reflexivity: Ourselves emphasizes the reflexive nature of an action or feeling, while us does not have this connotation.
- 3Formality: Us is more commonly used in everyday language, while ourselves is more formal and less common.
- 4Emphasis: Ourselves emphasizes the speaker and their group as the subject of the sentence, while us emphasizes the speaker and their group as the object of the sentence.
- 5Position: Ourselves is typically used in the middle or end of a sentence, while us is typically used at the beginning or middle of a sentence.
Remember this!
Ourselves and us both refer to a group of people that includes the speaker. However, the difference between ourselves and us is their function, reflexivity, formality, emphasis, and position. Ourselves is used as the subject or object of a sentence, emphasizes the reflexive nature of an action or feeling, is more formal and less common, emphasizes the speaker and their group as the subject of the sentence, and is typically used in the middle or end of a sentence. Whereas, us is only used as the object of a sentence, does not have a reflexive connotation, is more commonly used in everyday language, emphasizes the speaker and their group as the object of the sentence, and is typically used at the beginning or middle of a sentence.
