He turned his brother's head to him(self).

[99bottles]

Source: I wrote this sentence.

Context: Someone is holding his brother's corpse in his arms.

He turned his brother's head to him/himself. His eyes were lifeless.

I'm not sure which pronoun is correct here. Any help?

 

[Flamenco1]

Source: I wrote this sentence.

Context: Someone is holding his brother's corpse in his arms.

He turned his brother's head to him/himself. His eyes were lifeless.

I'm not sure which pronoun is correct here. Any help?

I would prefer the use of "towards" or "toward" **, and not "to". I would use "himself" to draw emphasis to the subject and add clarity.

But being truthful I'd prefer this was one sentence. One possible suggestion:

He turned his brother's head (towards himself) revealing his lifeless eyes.

** Both the same. Possibly a US/UK thing.

I hope that at least stimulates thought.

 

[Tarheel]

I have a brilliant idea. Try:

He turned his brother's head and stared into his lifeless eyes.

You'll thank me later.

 

[99bottles]

I would prefer the use of "towards" or "toward" **, and not "to". I would use "himself" to draw emphasis to the subject and add clarity.

But being truthful I'd prefer this was one sentence. One possible suggestion:

He turned his brother's head (towards himself) revealing his lifeless eyes.

** Both the same. Possibly a US/UK thing.

I hope that at least stimulates thought.

Wait, someone else told me to use him. Was he wrong? Should I use himself instead?

 

[5jj]

Wait, someone else told me to use him.

Who?

 

[99bottles]

Who?

Post #4

He turned his brother's head to him/himself.

Context: Someone is holding his brother's corpse in his arms. He turned his brother's head to him/himself. (Brother's name)'s eyes were lifeless. I'm not sure which pronoun is correct here.

forum.wordreference.com

 

[Tdol]

He turned his brother's head (towards himself) revealing his lifeless eyes.

You can solve the problem by deleting the part in brackets- if the position of the dead man's head reveals his lifeless eyes, then the man holding the head can see them

 

[Flamenco1]

You can solve the problem by deleting the part in brackets- if the position of the dead man's head reveals his lifeless eyes, then the man holding the head can see them

Tdol while I agree from a literary point of view (and the text reads like literature to me), it doesn't answer the question of pronoun validity. So if I may, I will add to the latter.

For 99bottles I think the contributor on the other site has a point. He quotes a simple rule. It seems to function most of the time. But, especially with literature, English is flexible. One must consider what it is that you want to communicate to the reader/listener, not forgetting readability. Therefore, I have no problem supporting the use of himself, especially if it is important to maintain the text's current structure. For one thing, I think "him" could be unclear, as I offered above. Are there other males present?

It certainly is interesting and I'll be looking for examples in the future.

Just my tuppence worth.

 

[99bottles]

Tdol while I agree from a literary point of view (and the text reads like literature to me), it doesn't answer the question of pronoun validity. So if I may, I will add to the latter.

For 99bottles I think the contributor on the other site has a point. He quotes a simple rule. It seems to function most of the time. But, especially with literature, English is flexible. One must consider what it is that you want to communicate to the reader/listener, not forgetting readability. Therefore, I have no problem supporting the use of himself, especially if it is important to maintain the text's current structure. For one thing, I think "him" could be unclear, as I offered above. Are there other males present?

It certainly is interesting and I'll be looking for examples in the future.

Just my tuppence worth.

No, there are no other males in that scene. So, without other males around, can I use him?

 

[Tarheel]

Two things. One, I still like my brilliant suggestion. Two, use himself.

 

[Tdol]

I'd skip the question, but would use himself if forced to make a clumsy sentence.