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See this structure in the dictionary.

tidy up after somebody:

Eg: I’m tired of tidying up after you boys (=tidying somewhere that someone else has made untidy).

Eg: When you cook, could you please tidy up after yourself.

When to use "after yourself / himself / herself..." & When to use "after you / him / her" in the structure" tidy up after somebody"?

Here is what I think but I am not sure I am right, if the subject & the object after "after" are the same then the object should be "yourself / himself / herself..."

He often tidies up after himself

She often tidies up after herself

We often tidy up after ourselves

But if the subject & the object after "after" are not the same then the object should be "you / him / her..."

We have to tidy up after him

I have to tidy up after him

but not sure which one is correct "I have to tidy up after ourselves" or "I have to tidy up after us"

& not sure which one is correct, Eg: I say "you have to tidy up after me" or "you have to tidy up after myself"

1 Answer 1

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The reflexive pronouns in English are:

  • myself     first person singular
  • yourself      second person singular
  • himself      third person singular
  • herself      third person singular
  • itself      third person singular
  • ourselves      first person plural
  • yourselves      second person plural
  • themselves      third person plural

We use the reflexive pronoun as the direct object only when it agrees in both person and number with the subject of the verb, as in the example from Longmans:

"...could you2nd Sing.SUBJECT please [tidy up after]VERB yourself2nd Sing.OBJECT?"

In your example sentence, the first person singular pronoun I is the subject. We can't use the first person plural reflexive pronoun, because the singular subject I is not in agreement with the first person plural in the object. Instead, we use the objective form of the first person plural pronoun, which is us:

I1st Sing.SUBJECT [have to tidy up after]VERB ourselves us3rd Pl.OBJECT.

Similarly, in your other example, we cannot use the first person singular reflexive pronoun as the object because it does not agree in person and number with the second person singular pronoun in the subject. Instead, we use the objective form of the first person singular pronoun, which is me:

"...you2nd Person SUBJECT [have to tidy up after]VERB myself me1st Sing.OBJECT."

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