What does “itself” mean?
- 1
pronounused when a thing or animal doing an action is also affected by it
The cat was cleaning itself in the sun.
- 2
pronounused to stress the thing you are talking about
The house itself is small, but the yard is huge.
Itself at a glance
- Part of speech
- pronoun
- CEFR level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Pronunciation
- /ɪtˈsɛlf/ · it-SELF
How to use “itself” correctly
“By itself” means alone or automatically: “The door closed by itself.”
Common phrases with “itself”
- by itself
- in itself
“itself” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- whatever pronounB1anything or everything that
- herself pronounA2used when the woman or girl doing an action is also affected by it
- himself pronounA2used when the man or boy doing an action is also affected by it
- myself pronounA2used when the speaker is both the subject and object of a verb
- others pronounA2different people or things from the ones already mentioned
- themselves pronounA2used when the people doing an action are also affected by it
- whom pronounB2the object form of “who”; used in formal English
- yourself pronounA2used when the subject and object are the same person, “you”