herself

[Gorkem Atay]

1. ''She bought a dress for herself.''
2. ''She bought a dress herself.''

Although first one's means like roughly, she bought a dress for her; the second one's means like , she bought a dress on her own, she went to the shop alone and bought the dress alone, but it is not clear the dress is for who.

Am I right?



Editing version:

May be the second one should have been like;

''She bought a dress by herself'' to give the meaning of 'on her own'.

 

[Barb_D]

Sometimes there is little difference between "herself" and "by herself."

Generally "herself" means no one helped her.
Generally "by herself" means she was alone.

A child who makes breakfast for mommy might do it "herself" but maybe someone is there watching her.
A child who makes breakfast "by herself" MIGHT mean this, or might mean "completely alone."

In the case of the dress, I assume the person went to the store alone and picked out the dress without assistance. There is little difference in meaning.

 

[Winwin2011]

Sometimes there is little difference between "herself" and "by herself."

Generally "herself" means no one helped her.
Generally "by herself" means she was alone.

A child who makes breakfast for mommy might do it "herself" but maybe someone is there watching her.
A child who makes breakfast "by herself" MIGHT mean this, or might mean "completely alone."

In the case of the dress, I assume the person went to the store alone and picked out the dress without assistance. There is little difference in meaning.

quote 'A child who makes breakfast "by herself" MIGHT mean this, or might mean "completely alone."'

Does it mean that 'The child's parents leave their child home alone'?

 

[MikeNewYork]

No, it does not necessarily mean that.

A parent may be teaching the child to cook and this was her maiden voyage.
The parents may be asleep and the child is trying to do something on her own.