When you hear someone say hisself, your internal grammar alarm might ring. Standard English dictates that himself is the only correct reflexive pronoun for third-person masculine singular subjects. Yet, people have used hisself for centuries, raising questions about whether it's a genuine error or simply a stigmatized dialectal variant.
To answer directly: himself is the only accepted form in standard, formal, and professional English. Using hisself in essays, business reports, or professional emails will immediately be flagged as a grammatical error. However, looking at the linguistics behind the debate reveals a fascinating story about how English pronouns evolved and why certain patterns were chosen over others.
The Standard Rule: Why Himself is Correct
In modern English, reflexive pronouns are formed by combining possessive determiners (my, your, our) or objective personal pronouns (him, them) with the suffix -self or -selves.
The paradigm looks consistent at first glance:
- First-person singular: myself (possessive my + self)
- Second-person singular: yourself (possessive your + self)
- Third-person feminine singular: herself (possessive her + self)
- Third-person neuter singular: itself (possessive its + self)
- Third-person plural: themselves (possessive their + selves)
Notice the split? Myself, yourself, herself, itself, and themselves all rely on the possessive pronoun form (my, your, her, its, their). This historical anomaly is why hisself actually follows a logical pattern within the English pronoun system—even though standard grammar rejects it. Because my, your, her, its, and their are possessive, logic suggests his should pair with self just like her pairs with self (herself).
Despite this logical consistency, prescriptive grammar canonized himself using the objective pronoun him combined with self, aligning with themselves (which uses them instead of their in older variants, though themselves won out over theirselves). Language doesn't always run on pure logic; it runs on established convention. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, himself became the ironclad standard centuries ago, leaving hisself behind in regional speech.
Historical Roots of Hisself
Far from being a modern invention or a sign of poor education, hisself has deep roots in the history of the English language. Middle English texts frequently featured variant reflexive forms that standardizers later ironed out during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
During the standardization of English, grammarians sought to create uniform rules to govern a language that had long varied wildly across different counties and social classes. In that sorting process, certain forms were anointed as "correct" prestige dialects—typically based on the speech of the educated elite in London and the Southeast—while other regional forms were demoted.
Forms like hisself, theirselves, and ourself were common in early modern English literature and regional dialects. Writers and everyday speakers used them naturally because they matched the predictable morphological rule of adding -self directly to the possessive pronoun (his + self). When prescriptive grammarians codified the rules, they favored himself to match objective pronouns like him, casting hisself into the realm of nonstandard vernacular.
Sociolinguistic Stigma and Dialects
Today, the use of hisself is largely confined to specific regional dialects, rural vernaculars, and African American Vernacular English (AAVE). In these contexts, it operates as a rule-governed feature of spoken language rather than random misuse.
Linguists draw a sharp line between prescriptive grammar (how people should write according to established rules) and descriptive grammar (how people actually talk in real life). From a descriptive standpoint, hisself makes internal sense within the speaker's dialect.
The social stigma attached to hisself stems from prestige bias. Society often equates deviations from standard written English with a lack of intelligence or education, ignoring the fact that every dialect possesses complex, internal grammatical rules. While an English teacher will mark hisself incorrect on an exam, a sociolinguist recognizes it as a persistent historical survivor of English morphology.
When Standard Grammar Matters Most
Understanding the history of hisself doesn't mean you should start using it in professional settings. In formal writing, public speaking, and institutional contexts, adhering to standard grammar standards is essential for clear communication and credibility.
When readers encounter nonstandard forms in formal contexts, their attention shifts away from your message and toward the error itself—a phenomenon known as the distraction effect. To keep your writing sharp and authoritative, always default to standard forms.
Here are concrete areas where standard reflexive pronouns are non-negotiable:
- Academic essays, research papers, and thesis defenses.
- Corporate communications, resumes, and cover letters.
- Journalism, publishing, and public relations materials.
- Official legal and government documentation.
Common Reflexive Pronoun Traps
Mistakes with reflexive pronouns go beyond just hisself. Writers frequently stumble over several other tricky areas when deploying self-referential words.
1. The Overcorrection Trap: Hisself vs. His Own Self
Sometimes speakers try to avoid hisself by stringing together clunky phrases like his own self. While phrases like "he did it all by his own self" appear in casual dialogue, they are overly wordy for clean writing. Stick to himself or on his own.
2. Hypercorrection with Myself
A common error in corporate speak is using myself to sound more formal, especially as a subject or direct object.
- Incorrect: "Please send the report to John and myself."
- Correct: "Please send the report to John and me."
- Rule of thumb: If you wouldn't say "myself went to the store," don't use it as an object where me or I belongs. Use myself only when you are the direct or indirect object of a sentence where you are also the subject (e.g., "I hurt myself").
3. Non-Words Like Theirself and His-self
Just like hisself, forms such as theirself (instead of themselves) and ourself (when used for a single person, outside of the royal "we") lack standard backing. Always use the plural -selves suffix for plural pronouns.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is hisself an actual word in the dictionary?
Yes, major dictionaries like Merriam-Webster list hisself, but they explicitly label it as nonstandard or dialectal. This means it exists in the language and people use it, but it does not belong in standard written or formal English.
Why do people say hisself if it's grammatically incorrect?
People use hisself because it follows a logical pattern within English grammar. Since other reflexive pronouns use possessive determiners (myself, yourself, herself), pairing his with self feels structurally consistent to native speakers, preserving an older historical pattern.
Can hisself ever be used in creative writing?
Creative writers aiming to capture authentic regional dialogue, historical flavor, or specific character voices often use nonstandard spellings and grammar like hisself in character dialogue. However, it should only appear inside quotation marks, never in the narrative voice of the author.
What is the quickest way to remember the correct reflexive pronouns?
Memorize the root words. Pair first- and second-person possessives (my, your) with -self, and third-person forms with either the objective pronoun (him -> himself) or the possessive feminine/neuter/plural (her -> herself, its -> itself, their -> themselves).
