Object pronoun: him vs. himself

Question

A. I will sacrifice my life more than him.B. I will sacrifice my life more than himself.I read from another thread that A is possible, but B is not.1.  Does 'him' in sentence A an object pronoun for 'he will', i.e. 'more than he will'?2.  Or does 'him' in sentence A an object prounoun for 'his life', i.e. 'more than his life'?3.  Why is sentence B not possible?  How would it mean?  Isn't 'himself' just an emphatic form of 'him'?C.  I will sacrifice myself more than him.D.  I will sacrifice myself more than himself.4.  Are sentences C and D now both possible?5.  Is 'him' in sentence C the object pronoun for 'he will'?6.  Is 'himself' in sentence D possible because it is being compared with 'myself'?Please advise.  Thank you in advance.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Let me just comment on your first examples, because I think you have wrong ideas throughout this whole post.

A. I will sacrifice my life more than him. Substandard English. ie Some people sometimes say it, but it is not really correct.

The object pronoun 'him' makes it sound like you are saying

I will sacrifice my life more than (I will sacrifice) him.

Instead, say it this way.

I will sacrifice my life more than he will.

B. I will sacrifice my life more than himself. Not correct.

Here is a final comment.

I think the use of the comparative term 'more' sounds odd in your examples.

You either sacrifice your life or you don't.

You can't say

eg Tom will sacrifice his life more than Fred will sacrifice his life.

What you mean, and what you should say, is this.

eg Tom is more willing to sacrifice his life than Fred is.

Thus, in your example . . .

eg I am more willing to sacrifice my life than he is.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for your answers and your suggestions that are much clearer than mine in what I really wanted to say. Could you please advise on follow-up questions below?

CliveA. I will sacrifice my life more than him. Substandard English. ie Some people sometimes say it, but it is not really correct.
The object pronoun 'him' makes it sound like you are saying
I will sacrifice my life more than (I will sacrifice) him.

If people sometimes say
"I will sacrifice my life more than him,"
do they really mean
"I will sacrifice my life more than he will,"
without realizing the more likely meaning which is
"I will sacrifice my life more than (I will sacrifice) him"?

If what I really mean was "more than I will sacrifice that person", would you then say that C and D is possible?

C. I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) him.
D. I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) himself.

Clive · Answer

Hi again,

Thank you for your answers and your suggestions that are much clearer than mine in what I really wanted to say. Could you please advise on follow-up questions below?

Clive

“A. I will sacrifice my life more than him. Substandard English. ie Some people sometimes say it, but it is not really correct.
The object pronoun 'him' makes it sound like you are saying
I will sacrifice my life more than (I will sacrifice) him.”

If people sometimes say

"I will sacrifice my life more than him,"

do they really mean

"I will sacrifice my life more than he will,"

without realizing the more likely meaning which is

"I will sacrifice my life more than (I will sacrifice) him"? Yes, of course. People don't sacrifice other people's lives, at least not where I live.

If what I really mean (an odd meaning, as I just said) was "more than I will sacrifice that person", would you then say that C and D is possible?

C. I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) him. Yes.

D. I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) himself. No.

You could say 'I will sacrifice myself more than he will sacrifice himself'.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

ClivePeople don't sacrifice other people's lives, at least not where I live.

Same here. LOL. I just thought of this for scripts in movies.

CliveYou could say 'I will sacrifice myself more than he will sacrifice himself'.

Just one last question. I hope I don't sound like I'm overanalyzing. Can sentence D with 'more than himself' imply as follows?

I will sacrifice myself more than (he will sacrifice) himself.

Thank you so much, Clive.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Clive

“You could say 'I will sacrifice myself more than he will sacrifice himself'. ”

Just one last question. I hope I don't sound like I'm overanalyzing. Can sentence D with 'more than himself' imply as follows? No. You need something earlier in the text that 'himself' can refer to.

eg a noun like 'Fred' or 'the mailman', or the pronoun 'he'.

A reflexive pronoun is called that because it needs something to reflect back to.

I will sacrifice myself more than (he will sacrifice) himself.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi again,

If I've understood you completely, to make the sentence correct, I can say as follows. Please confirm.

I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) Fred himself.
I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) him himself.

OR

I will sacrifice myself more than Fred (will sacrifice) himself.
I will sacrifice myself more than he (will sacrifice) himself.

Would all of the above sentences work?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

If I've understood you completely, to make the sentence correct, I can say as follows. Please confirm.

The reflexive pronoun commonly relates to the subject, not the object.

So, these two don't work.

I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) Fred himself.

I will sacrifice myself more than (I will sacrifice) him himself.

OR

I will sacrifice myself more than Fred (will sacrifice) himself.

Not wrong, but doesn't sound right.

The verb is better stated explicitly, not omitted.

I will sacrifice myself more than he (will sacrifice) himself. Same comment.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

This is much clearer to me now.  It was kind of you.  Thanks lots. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Anonymous · Answer

You are so right Clive. Thank for the clarification.

Object pronoun: him vs. himself

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