imagine yourself

[Verona_82]

Hello,

After reading the book, the boy imagined fighting with the King's men.
After reading the book, the boy imagined himself fighting with the King's men.

When is it necessary to use 'imagine" with a reflexive pronoun? I've looked the verb in dictionaries, but failed to come up with a guideline

Thank you.

[Verona_82]

[Raymott]

Hello,

After reading the book, the boy imagined fighting with the King's men.
After reading the book, the boy imagined himself fighting with the King's men.

When is it necessary to use 'imagine" with a reflexive pronoun? I've looked the verb in dictionaries, but failed to come up with a guideline

Thank you.

Probably never, in a sentence with a structure such as you've written.
However, in the following it's necessary: "Imagine yourself on a boat on a river."

[Verona_82]

Thank you, Raymott. What about these ones? I can't see any difference in structure:


Imagine yourself sitting behind your big new desk.
Imagine earning that much money!

Can I omit the pronoun in (1) and use it in (2)?

[~Mav~]

"Imagine yourself on a boat on a river."

Out of curiosity, were you thinking of The Beatles' (John Lennon's, to be more precise) song, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"? If so, then it's "picture yourself on a boat on a river."

[emsr2d2]

I don't wish to be pedantic (well, OK, maybe I do) but it's actually:

Picture yourself in a boat on a river ...

[Raymott]

I don't wish to be pedantic (well, OK, maybe I do) but it's actually:

Picture yourself in a boat on a river ...

Well, I also wouldn't want to be pedantic, but in my example sentence, it is certainly "Imagine" and not "Picture". Perhaps I could have chosen a line from a Beatles song to illustrate my point, but I didn't.

[Raymott]

Thank you, Raymott. What about these ones? I can't see any difference in structure:


Imagine yourself sitting behind your big new desk.
Imagine earning that much money!

Can I omit the pronoun in (1) and use it in (2)?

Yes, you can. There is no grammatical reason for choosing one over the other. There might be a stylistic choice to make though.
It appears that the reflexive pronoun is more appropriate when there is an actual physical activity involved, such as sitting in a boat or behind a desk. In physical activities, you imagining your self, or your body, doing something. You see yourself mentally.

With earning money, you are not actually imagining a physical activity at all, but simply having a lot of money which you acquire through your work.
Similar non-physical examples are: "Imagine believing your were Superman.", "Imagine never knowing what to do next."

[Verona_82]

Got it! Thank you