If you have ever typed a sentence and paused over a pronoun, wondering whether to write himself or hisself, you are not alone. This confusion trips up native English speakers, ESL learners, and even seasoned writers. Both forms exist in the wild — on social media, in regional dialogue, and occasionally in published fiction — but only one belongs in standard, professional, or academic writing.
Understanding the difference is not just a grammar exercise; it directly affects how your writing is perceived. In this guide, you will get a clear answer, the full history, real-world examples, and a side-by-side comparison so you never hesitate again.
Himself or Hisself – Quick Answer
Himself is correct. It is the standard English reflexive pronoun used when the subject and object of a sentence refer to the same male person. Hisself is a nonstandard, dialectal form that does not appear in formal grammar, academic writing, or professional communication. If you are writing an essay, business document, blog post, or email, use himself every single time.
Himself
Himself is the third-person singular masculine reflexive pronoun in English. It follows the same pattern as other reflexive pronouns: object pronoun + self. In this case, him + self = himself. You use it in two main situations:
- Reflexive use — when the subject and the object are the same person: He hurt himself during the game.
- Emphatic use — when you want to stress that a specific person performed an action: The CEO himself reviewed the proposal.
All major grammar authorities — from Merriam-Webster to Cambridge Grammar — recognize himself as the correct, accepted form. It appears on the official list of English reflexive pronouns alongside myself, yourself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
Hisself
Hisself is a nonstandard variant of himself found in certain regional dialects, particularly in parts of the American South, some working-class British speech, and African American Vernacular English (AAVE). It is formed by combining the possessive pronoun his with self — which sounds logical but breaks the grammatical rule that reflexive pronouns must be built from object pronouns, not possessive ones.
The Oxford English Dictionary labels it “nonstandard.” Merriam-Webster does not recognize it as standard usage. The Chicago Manual of Style advises against it in any formal writing. That said, hisself is not meaningless — in creative fiction, character dialogue, or deliberate dialect writing, it can serve a stylistic purpose. A novelist writing a character from rural Appalachia might use hisself intentionally to reflect that person’s speech patterns. Outside that narrow creative lane, however, it signals a grammar error.
The Origin of Himself or Hisself
To understand why both forms exist, you need to look back at Old English. The word himself comes from Old English him selfum, where him was the dative/accusative form of the masculine pronoun he, and selfum was an inflected adjective meaning “own” or “same.” This structure — object pronoun plus self — set the grammatical template for all reflexive pronouns in English.
Hisself emerged later, around the 14th and 15th centuries during the Middle English period. The Online Etymology Dictionary traces its appearance to approximately c. 1400, explaining that a shift in the “felt meaning” of the first element of himself — from dative to genitive — gave rise to the alternate form hisself. In simpler terms: as spoken English evolved and people increasingly associated himself with the possessive his rather than the object form him, some speakers began producing hisself naturally. This is what linguists call folk etymology — when speakers reanalyze a word’s structure based on how it sounds rather than its actual grammatical roots.
The same shift never happened with herself, which is why we do not say sheself or herself in the possessive sense. Language change is rarely perfectly logical — it follows what sounds familiar in a given community.
Over centuries, himself became entrenched in written Standard English through printing, formal education, and style guides, while hisself survived only in oral tradition and regional speech. Today, linguists call this nonstandard survival — a spoken form that persists informally even after written standards have moved on.
British English vs American English Spelling
This is not a British vs. American spelling debate in the way that colour/color or realise/realize are. Both British English and American English use himself as the standard reflexive pronoun. There is no regional spelling variation between the two on this point.
Where geography does come into play is dialect usage:
- American English dialects: Hisself appears most commonly in the American South and Appalachian regions, where it is a recognized feature of regional speech.
- British English dialects: Older forms of Northern British English and some working-class dialects have historically used hisself, though this is increasingly rare in modern speech.
- AAVE (African American Vernacular English): Some AAVE speakers use hisself as a natural feature of their dialect, which linguists study as a legitimate linguistic system — not a deficiency in grammar knowledge.
The bottom line: no matter which variety of English you speak or write, the standard spelling for formal and professional contexts is always himself.
Which Spelling Should You Use?
The answer depends entirely on your context:
Use himself when:
- Writing academic papers, essays, or research
- Drafting business emails, reports, or professional documents
- Creating website content, blog posts, or journalism
- Taking English grammar tests or standardized exams
- Speaking in professional or formal settings
Use hisself only when:
- Writing character dialogue that intentionally reflects a regional or dialectal voice
- Quoting someone’s speech verbatim for accuracy
- Writing literary fiction where dialect is a deliberate stylistic choice
- Analyzing dialect in a linguistic or academic paper (with appropriate framing)
If you are ever unsure, default to himself. It is always correct. Hisself is correct only in the narrow circumstances listed above — and even then, many editors will flag it unless the dialect intent is crystal clear.
Common Mistakes with Himself or Hisself
Even careful writers fall into traps with reflexive pronouns. Here are the most frequent errors:
1. Using hisself in formal writing Wrong: He completed the project hisself. Right: He completed the project himself.
2. Thinking hisself is acceptable because it “sounds logical” It does follow a pattern (myself, yourself), but reflexive pronouns are built from object pronouns — me, you, him — not possessives. His is possessive, so hisself breaks the rule.
3. Confusing dialect speech with standard grammar Hearing hisself in everyday conversation or on television does not make it standard. Regional dialect and standard grammar are different systems. Spellcheck in casual apps may not flag hisself, which gives a false sense of correctness.
4. Using himself where a different pronoun is needed Wrong: He and myself went to the store. (Incorrect reflexive use) Right: He and I went to the store.
Reflexive pronouns like himself are only correct when the subject of the sentence is performing an action on itself. Using them as stand-alone subjects or in place of regular object pronouns is a separate but equally common error.
Himself or Hisself in Everyday Examples
Seeing both forms in context makes the rule stick. Below are side-by-side examples showing correct and incorrect usage:
| Situation | Incorrect (Nonstandard) | Correct (Standard) |
| Reflexive action | He hurt hisself. | He hurt himself. |
| Doing something alone | He built the shed hisself. | He built the shed himself. |
| Emphatic statement | He hisself told me the news. | He himself told me the news. |
| Grooming/personal care | He cleaned hisself up. | He cleaned himself up. |
| Teaching/self-learning | He taught hisself to cook. | He taught himself to cook. |
| Introduction | He introduced hisself to the crowd. | He introduced himself to the crowd. |
Notice that in every case, the meaning is identical — but only the himself version is appropriate outside of deliberate dialect writing.
Himself or Hisself – Google Trends & Usage Data
When you compare himself and hisself in language data, the gap is enormous. Google Ngram Viewer, which tracks word frequency in printed books from 1800 onward, shows himself as one of the most consistently used pronouns in the English language, while hisself barely registers on the chart.
Key data points:
- Google Ngram: Hisself shows minimal usage in formal published texts across all periods. Himself dominates entirely.
- Merriam-Webster: Himself has a full dictionary entry as standard English. Hisself is listed as nonstandard.
- Academic corpora: Searches through formal academic databases return virtually zero instances of hisself outside of linguistic research papers studying dialect.
- Web usage: Himself appears billions of times across professional websites, news outlets, and published books. Hisself appears primarily in forum posts, social media, and dialogue-heavy fiction.
The data confirms what the grammar guides say: himself is the dominant, accepted, and expected form in virtually every written context.
Comparison Table
| Feature | Himself | Hisself |
| Standard English | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Formal writing | ✅ Correct | ❌ Incorrect |
| Academic use | ✅ Accepted | ❌ Not accepted |
| Regional dialect | ✅ Used | ✅ Used (some regions) |
| Dictionary status | ✅ Standard | ⚠️ Nonstandard |
| Grammar rule | Him (object) + self | His (possessive) + self |
| Fiction/dialogue | ✅ Correct | ✅ Acceptable for dialect |
| Professional communication | ✅ Always correct | ❌ Avoid |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is hisself a real word? It appears in some dictionaries as a nonstandard or dialectal form, but it is not accepted as standard English.
Why do people say hisself if it is wrong? Regional dialects, oral tradition, and the logical-sounding his + self pattern lead many speakers to adopt it naturally in informal speech.
Can I use hisself in creative writing? Yes, but only when writing dialogue or narrative voice that deliberately reflects a regional or dialectal speaker.
Is hisself used in British English? It has appeared in older Northern British dialects, but Standard British English uses himself exclusively.
Does spellcheck catch hisself? Not always — some basic spellcheckers miss it, so do not rely solely on autocorrect for grammar accuracy.
What is the plural of himself? The plural reflexive form is themselves, used when referring to more than one person.
Is himself used for animals? Yes, himself can be used for a male animal that has already been identified with the pronoun he in the sentence.
Conclusion
The himself vs. hisself question has a clear, definitive answer: use himself in all standard writing and speech. It is grammatically correct, universally accepted, and the only form recognized by every major style guide and dictionary. Hisself has a real linguistic history rooted in Middle English and regional dialect, and it survives today in informal speech and deliberate creative writing — but it has no place in professional, academic, or formal communication.
The next time you write a sentence involving a male subject performing an action on himself, you can move forward with total confidence. Whether he hurt himself, taught himself, or introduced himself — the word is always himself. Getting this right is one of those small grammar habits that quietly signals careful, polished writing to every reader who notices it.
