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100% GOOD (1 votes)responditLanguage Question
Hi I want to know why use Ourselves in this phrase, ”We really enjoyed ourselves while on holiday.”?


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AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgJuly 2022

”to enjoy oneself” is the reflexive verb of this sentence. "ourselves" is the object pronoun for the subject "we".

So, during the holiday, ”we” created enjoyment for each other.

It differs in meaning from ”the holiday was enjoyable for us”. The stress when using the reflexive verb here is that the enjoyment results from ”we” creating the fun rather than the holiday by itself being fun.

Zara412 profile picture Zara412August 2022
ourselves normally relates to you talking about not just you but the people you are with, such as you thanking your hosts for having your family ”we really enjoyed ourselves”
  • AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgJuly 2022
    ”holiday” in this context is the British English version of ”vacation” in American English. ”on holiday” = ”on vacation”