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An ELL post makes up a situation where Bob's parents think Bob wants to be a doctor while Bob himself doesn't.

To emphasizes the fact, the post says

What if Bob himself doesn't want to be a doctor?

Is it necessary to put "himself" there for this particular situation?

ColleenV
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RobertH
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2 Answers2

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The use of "himself" in this sentence is emphatic, and serves to emphasise the fact that "Bob, and Bob in particular".

The emphatic pronoun "himself" can be omitted without changing the core meaning of the sentence. But as with other forms of emphasis, often the reason for the sentence is to emphasise something, so removing the emphasis changes the intent or purpose of the sentence.

In this case it is used correctly to mean "Bob (and not his parents, or his friends etc)"

It could also be expressed as "If Bob doesn't want to be a doctor himself."

James K
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  • It seems that the position of the intensifier himself could be directly behind the subject Bob only. – kngram Jun 21 '20 at 12:49
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Yes, "himself" is needed because the word "himself" indicates Bob's own choice of not becoming a doctor.

In another sense it asserts on the fact that 'Bob does not want to become a doctor.'

However if it was uncertain whether Bob wanted to become a doctor or not , then the use of the word "himself" is optional.

Black Fire
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  • This answer is wrong. "Himself" is not needed for anything in that sentence. "Himself" adds emphasis, as James K's answer states. To indicate "Bob's own choice of not becoming a doctor", "himself" is not "needed". – AIQ Jun 22 '20 at 07:32