[Vocabulary] between us or between ourselves?

[sherrylemonade]

I want to know the different between "between us " and "between ourselves".
for example, there is a choice question:_____, it is said that Schmidt's about to resign due to the huge mistake he made brought great loss to our company.
the answer for this is " between ourselves", I think the object of this sentence is " it " rather than we, so it should be " between us ".
who can help me fix this question? thx!!!:-D

 

[jutfrank]

_____, it is said that Schmidt's about to resign due to the huge mistake he made brought great loss to our company.

No, that's not right. The sentence is not correct or very natural.

the answer for this is " between ourselves"

No, it isn't.

I think the object of this sentence is " it " rather than we, so it should be " between us ".

That doesn't make sense, I'm afraid.

who can help me fix this question? thx!!!:-D

I don't think the question is worth fixing. Where did you find this question? Are you absolutely sure you copied it exactly?

It may be that the person who wrote the question was thinking of the phrase between you and me, which we sometimes use to indicate to the person we are talking to that he or she should not mention what we are about to say to anybody else.

 

[sherrylemonade]

thanks for answering my question! well, I am preparing for the Chinese National English competition and I meet this question in a book which includes many examination questions. At first, I also think this is a wired question, the sentence is not integrated. and I checked the answer which choices " between ourselves"( the answer must be wrong!)

so I want to know whether people use "between us" or " between ourselves" differently? and how i can use this phase correctly?

thx!!!

 

[probus]

"Between us" and "between ourselves" mean the same. Both are commonly heard, but I think "us" is better. I had an old edition of Fowlers that decried such use of reflexive pronouns as Wardour Street English. Perhaps that is what the examiners are getting at.

 

[Tarheel]

Thanks for answering my question! Well, I am preparing for the Chinese National English competition and I saw this question in a book which includes many examination questions. At first, I thought it was a weird question, The sentence is not integrated. and I checked the answer which choices " between ourselves"( the answer must be wrong!)

So I want to know whether people use "between us" or " between ourselves" differently. And how i can use this phase correctly?

You will no doubt do badly on the exam if you don't do better. Remember to capitalize every word that begins a sentence. Also remember to use correct punctuation. (There is some of that I do not understand.)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I want to know the different between "between us " and "between ourselves".

For example, there is a multiple-choice question: (Put spaces after colons.) _____, it is said that Schmidt's about to resign because the huge mistake he made brought great loss to our company. (As mentioned above, start sentences with capitals. It's important!)

The answer for this is " between ourselves". I think the object of this sentence is "it" rather than "we", so it should be "between us". (Don't put spaces between quotation marks and the words they quote.)

I agree.

Who can help me fix this question?

We can.

Thanks! (Thx sounds like a car model. Just use one exclamation point.)

You're welcome.

 

[emsr2d2]

And how can I [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] use this phrase correctly?
[STRIKE]thx!!![/STRIKE] Thanks.

Note my corrections above.

 

[sherrylemonade]

Thanks for correcting my mistakes! :-DThis is my first time to ask questions at the forum and I am very grateful to receive these corrections and explanations.
In the past, I did much training on listening and reading rather than speaking and writing. Maybe this is why I had a bad performance on my expression:-(.

Thank you, guys! These corrections are very important and useful for me!