Alone and by myself...

Hey everyone, sorry about not posting so much this month but I have been busy with Gion Matsuri, getting ready for summer vacation and a few other things. I want to publish about 8 blog posts a month so you should be seeing several posts over the next 2 weeks~!

Please leave questions and comments in the box next to the posts, I really love to hear from you all and appreciate your suggestions.

Ok, today I will talk a bit about alone and by myself the differences in usage and meaning.

alone

This is a quite strong word, it has a negative connotation and makes people think of loneliness. We usually don't use it to talk about ourselves, we use it to talk about OTHER PEOPLE.

He's alone, it's safe to attack. GET HIM!

He went to Europe alone.

When we use it to talk about ourselves it sounds sad or angry:

Leave me alone! (angry) We use this to tell someone to stop bothering us, very strong and rude.

I spent Christmas alone. (sad)

by myself

This is the normal expression we use when talking about doing something without anyone else and you are happy or neutral about the situation.

I went to Angkor Wat by myself.

A: Who did you see the movie with?

B: I went by myself.

In both these examples, you are NOT sad or disappointed about the situation so you use by myself.

I fixed the car by myself.

I fixed the car myself.

Here the meaning in these two sentences is slightly different. "I fixed the car by myself" is emphasizing that NOBODY helped you to fix the car, it is a bit of a stronger sentence. "I fixed the car myself" means that you did not go to the garage or mechanic BUT maybe your friends might have helped you a little.

Is this clear to you now? If you still don't understand let me know!

Phil