NRTC English: ‘Themselves’ is different from ‘one another’

Other things being equal, if you look in a mirror, you’re going to see yourself–your reflection. That’s the idea about reflexive pronouns. Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves depending on whether they’re singular (-self) or plural (-selves).

Reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves. They refer back to a person or thing mentioned earlier. We often use reflexive pronouns when the performer of an action is also the receiver.

Let’s look at these examples:

ALSO READ: NRTC English: The letter ‘t’ isn’t pronounced in debut, sachet, depot, chalet, rapport, and mortgage

• I cut myself when I was making dinner last night.
• I hope you enjoy yourselves at the party tonight!
• My phone isn’t working properly. It turns itself off for no reason.
• We need to believe in ourselves more.

Therefore, you cannot say ‘the politicians in Nigeria love themselves’ to mean ‘the politicians in Nigeria love one another. In the first example, ‘themselves’ is a reflexive pronoun which means each politician loves himself/herself. While in the second example, ‘one another’ is a reciprocal pronoun which means politician A loves politicians B – Z, and in the same vein politicians B – Z love politicians A – Z. But you and I know this is not the case in Nigeria.

ALSO READ: NRTC English: Is it correct to say criterias?

In English, reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. While ‘each other’ is increasingly being used for two people, ‘one another’ is used for more than two people. For example, Tade and Tolu love each other; the children are playing with one another in the garden.

The underlying notion that guides reciprocal pronouns is of mutual benefit/loss, like Tade loves Tolu and Tolu loves him in return.