Please observe below Clause Pattern:

SVOd: Verb + oneself

The ‘-self words’ that you can use in place of ‘oneself’ are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Below are the verbs that are particularly associated with a ‘-self word’: 

absent oneself, adapt (oneself), adjust (oneself), apply oneself, avail oneself (formal), behave (oneself), busy oneself, compose oneself, content oneself, distance oneself, dress oneself, enjoy oneself, excel oneself, exert oneself, express oneself, hide oneself, identify (oneself) with, ingratiate oneself, move (oneself), perjure oneself, prepare (oneself), pride oneself, prove (himself), shave (oneself), readjust (oneself), strain oneself, undress (oneself), wash (oneself), worry (oneself).

E.g.:

1.      He's been absenting himself from work for some time now.

2.      We’ll have to adapt ourselves to the change.

3.      She seems to have adjusted herself to the new job.

4.      Once you apply yourself to this task, you’ll find it quite easy.

👉 Your task: Using the word list below, compose the one word group of your own.

• Follow the same pattern as given in the heading.
• Use the examples as your guide.
• Use dictionary to form multiple examples. To access the dictionary click the link below:

Cambridge DictionaryLinks to an external site.

• Explore the sentence dictionaries below to find ready-made examples:

sentencedict.comLinks to an external site.

sentence.yourdictionary.comLinks to an external site.

1. absent:
2. oneself:
3. adapt (oneself):
4. adjust (oneself):
5. apply oneself:
6. avail oneself (formal):
7. behave (oneself):
8. busy oneself:
9. compose:
10. oneself:
11. content oneself:
12. distance oneself:
13. dress oneself:
14. enjoy oneself:
15. excel oneself:
16. exert oneself:
17. express oneself:
18. hide oneself:
19. identify (oneself) with:
20. ingratiate oneself:
21. move (oneself):
22. perjure oneself:
23. prepare (oneself):
24. pride oneself:
25. prove (himself):
26. shave (oneself):
27. readjust (oneself):
28. strain oneself:
29. undress (oneself):
30. wash (oneself):
31. worry (oneself)

Note that you can use a ‘-self word’ as the object of almost any other transitive verb, if you have to do so in order to make your meaning clear

accuse, admire, amuse, deceive, dislike, feed, free, get, hurt, introduce, kill persuade, put.

E.g.:

1. It wasn’t your fault – don’t keep accusing yourself.
2. She was admiring herself in the mirror.
3. He amused himself by watching the passers-by.
4. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking she loves you.
5. He disliked himself for lying to her.

👉 Your task: Using the word list below, compose the one word group of your own.

1. accuse:
2. admire:
3. amuse:
4. deceive:
5. dislike:
6. Feed:
7. free:
8. get:
9. hurt:
10. introduce:
11. kill:
12. persuade:
13. put:

Additional exercise: To reinforce pattern into your brain you can practice saying word groups you formed 4-5 times aloud. Use correct pronunciation, use word linking technique, apply stressed timed rhythm.