In the sentence ‘Nancy thanked everyone who helped 【あ】produce the award-winning television commercial’, the word 【あ】 should be ‘her’, not ‘herself’. But why is ‘herself’ incorrect? Let’s explore the grammar rules that make ‘her’ the correct choice and ‘herself’ a mistake in this context.
1. The Role of Reflexive Pronouns in English
First, it’s important to understand the function of reflexive pronouns like ‘herself’. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of the sentence refer to the same person. For example, ‘She blamed herself’. Here, ‘herself’ refers back to ‘she’, which is the subject. However, reflexive pronouns are not used as the object in sentences where another noun or pronoun is performing the action.
In the sentence ‘Nancy thanked everyone who helped 【あ】produce the award-winning television commercial’, ‘Nancy’ is the subject, and ‘everyone’ is the object. The pronoun needed is ‘her’, because ‘her’ is the object of the verb ‘helped’. Using ‘herself’ would imply that Nancy helped herself, which isn’t the case here.
2. Why ‘her’ is the Correct Choice
The sentence ‘Nancy thanked everyone who helped her produce the award-winning television commercial’ requires an object pronoun like ‘her’ because it is the direct object of the verb ‘helped’. English grammar dictates that when a person is helped by others, you use the objective form of the pronoun. In this case, ‘her’ is the correct form of the pronoun referring to Nancy.
On the other hand, ‘herself’ is used for reflexive actions, when the subject and object are the same, such as in ‘She helped herself’. This would imply that Nancy was helping herself, which is not the meaning intended in this context.
3. Understanding Object Pronouns in Context
In English, object pronouns such as ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘us’, and ‘them’ are used to indicate the object of a verb. When someone receives help, the object of the help is represented by the object pronoun, not a reflexive pronoun. This rule is key to understanding why ‘her’ is the correct choice in this sentence.
Using reflexive pronouns incorrectly can lead to confusion in sentences. In this case, using ‘herself’ would create an awkward and incorrect structure, implying that Nancy helped herself, which is not the case.
4. Summary of the Correct Usage
In summary, when a person is the recipient of help from others, the correct object pronoun to use is ‘her’ (for a female subject) instead of ‘herself’. The word ‘herself’ is reserved for reflexive actions, where the subject and object are the same. Therefore, the correct sentence should read, ‘Nancy thanked everyone who helped her produce the award-winning television commercial’.
Understanding the difference between these pronouns is crucial for correct sentence structure and clear communication in English. Keep in mind the distinction between reflexive pronouns and object pronouns when forming sentences to avoid common grammatical errors.
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