How to know when to use "soi" or "soi-même" to say "oneself"?

MichaelC1Kwiziq community member

How to know when to use "soi" or "soi-même" to say "oneself"?

Asked 6 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Michael !

I agree that it's indeed quite a tricky point!
Indeed, after looking into it thoroughly, I can't really come up with a better explanation than "colloquial usage", which I admit is not really satisfying :)

​I would say however that we will tend to use soi rather than soi-même after prepositions (devant, avec...) and with comparisons or after que in general.

Soi-même will more often be used to emphasise that you do the action yourself:

Il faut le faire soi-même.

I hope that's helpful!​
Merci et bonne journée !

How to know when to use "soi" or "soi-même" to say "oneself"?

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