English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Do Femi and Bisi love themselves or love each other?
Expectedly, Femi and Bisi love ~each other~, and that’s why each person pushed their own interest first (nonstandard).
Expectedly, Femi and Bisi love *themselves* and that’s why each person pushed their own interest first (standard).
The possessive pronoun, themselves, is appropriate because Femi loves himself and Bisi loves herself too as the context suggests.
Femi and Bisi love ~themselves~ because they share all they’ve got (nonstandard).
Femi and Bisi love *each other* because they share all they’ve got (standard).
While pronouns such as “himself”, “herself” and “themselves” are reflexive, “each other” and “one another” are reciprocal pronouns and they suggest exchanges.
GAB
