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[Source:] Myself is used as the object of a reflexive verb (“I hurt myself”), as an intensifier (“I myself will go”), and can be used in absolutive clause (“for my wife and myself it was a happy time”)

What are the similarities and differences between the following? This comment worsens my confusion.

1. For me it was a happy time.
2. For myself it was a happy time.

I am guessing that in 1, me is an object pronoun,
and in 2, myself is an intensive pronoun, but this link states:

While English intensive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself, himself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) use the same form as reflexive pronouns, an intensive pronoun is different from a reflexive, because the pronoun can be removed without altering the meaning of the sentence.

Yet in 2, 'myself' CAN'T be removed?

Obiter dictum: Here's another link on absolute phrases.

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    Your second sentence isn't correct, but I don't have enough evidence yet to write this out as a full answer. If you rearrange the order it should be apparent. "It was a happy time for me." versus "It was a happy time for myself." "It was a happy time for my wife and myself" isn't correct either (in my dialect). It should be "a happy time for my wife and me". I can see some folks using it because of the symmetry of "my wife" and "my self". Let me do some digging around and see if I can support that with something more than my gut feeling. I haven't done a full read through of the link yet.
    – ColleenV
    Commented Jan 26, 2015 at 23:38
  • The fact that in 2 it can't be removed means it is not an intensive pronoun. 1 is correct, 2 is ungrammatical.
    – Jim
    Commented Jan 26, 2015 at 23:42
  • I personally think that myself is a more greedy way of saying me.
    – ʇolɐǝz ǝɥʇ qoq
    Commented Jan 26, 2015 at 23:43
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    Ah I found an excerpt from Common Errors in English Usage that helps. It's usually appropriate to use “myself” when you have used “I” earlier in the same sentence: “I am not particularly fond of goat cheese myself.” “I kept half the loot for myself.” So, "I felt it was a happy time for my wife and myself." might be OK. Still not better than using me in my opinion.
    – ColleenV
    Commented Jan 26, 2015 at 23:46

3 Answers 3

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Your example in number 2 is an incorrect use of the intensive "myself". The intensive pronoun is an emphatic, redundant pronoun. In your example, an actual object is needed for the prepositional phrase "for [object]" , so only object-pronouns (like "me") are appropriate.

You would use the intensive pronoun like this:

I, myself, am responsible for the company's success.

Note that in this example, without the intensive, emphatic pronoun, the sentence remains intact "I am responsible for the company's success."

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I am not sure of the grammar rules, but I will say that

For myself it was a happy time*

feels forced and unnatural.

I would use

For me, it was a happy time.

(Native Australian English speaker)

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Yet in 2, myself CAN'T be removed?

That's because it's being used as a reflexive pronoun, not as an intensive pronoun. In your example the word 'myself' couldn't be removed from the sentence, which means it's a reflexive pronoun.

Now as for the difference between "me" and "myself". When you say "myself" you're drawing attention to the fact that you're talking about you and no one else. Imagine I said:

"For me it was a happy time". I'm putting stress on the word 'me' to suggest that someone else didn't have a happy time. That's what using the word 'myself' does.

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