Basic Details
Word: Herself
Part of Speech: Pronoun
Meaning: Used for a woman or girl already mentioned, when she is both the doer and the one the action is done to, or to add emphasis.
How to Spell Herself
Syllables: her - self
Tricky part: It is one word, her + self. Some students write herselve, mixing it up with the plural themselves.
Watch out for: herselve, herslef, hurself
Memory tip: One girl, one self: her + self. Only when there are many people does self change to selves, as in themselves.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Priya taught herself to play the flute by watching videos.
Example 2: The principal herself came to the gate to welcome the visitors.
Example 3: My baby sister looked at herself in the mirror and laughed.
Fun Fact
Words like herself are called reflexive pronouns, because the action bends back, like a reflection, onto the person doing it.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the incorrectly spelt compound word:
a) wholesale
b) herselve
c) breakthrough
d) bystander
Show answer
b) herselve. For one person the ending is self; selves is only for plurals like themselves.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The little girl tied her shoelaces sfelreh before the school bus came.
a) fresher
b) herself
c) shelter
d) refresh
Show answer
b) herself. The l is the key letter: refresh and fresher have none, and the jumble has no t for shelter.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. conscence 2. vaccum 3. herself 4. rythm
a) the girl or woman already mentioned
b) a strong, regular, repeated pattern of sounds
c) a space with no air or matter in it
d) the inner sense of what is right and wrong
Show answer
a) the girl or woman already mentioned. Rhythm hides an h after r, conscience has science inside it and vacuum has two u's; herself is fine as written.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Choose the right word: 'Anika made the card all by ____.'
a) himself
b) themselves
c) herself
d) itself
Show answer
c) herself
2. In 'The queen herself opened the fair', herself is used to ____.
a) add emphasis
b) ask a question
c) name a place
d) show past time
Show answer
a) add emphasis
