Using Yourself and Me

Reflexive pronouns abound, but uses are scrambled. They come in a variety of flavors, depending on the person and number of the subject they refer to. That subject--I, you (singular and plural), he, she, it, we, they--must appear in the same sentence.  However, the reflexive pronouns are always objects, not subjects:  myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and  themselves. She finished the painting and cleaned up herself. Right, although in the vernacular, we would probably say "cleaned herself up."

It is not uncommon these days to see a sentence like The new rules apply to all the members, especially myself.  Wrong!  There is no I in the sentence for myself to reflect.  The word required is the objective form, me. Most people get I, myself, correct.  The problem comes in when trying to express more than one an action in one sentence: The teacher gave the tests back to myself and the others.  Try putting the actions into two sentences, and your ear will tell you which form to use:  The teacher gave the tests back to me.  The teacher gave the tests back to the others.

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