ohn resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.

Question

Hello,

I have already learned from respondents that the sentence A below is incorrect.

A. John resented when Betty seduced himself.

In this time, I'd like you to ask whether the sentence B is correct or not.

B John resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.

Thank you in advance.

Xerxes · Accepted Answer

thfiheIn this time, I'd like you to ask whether the sentence B is correct or not.B John resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.

It is incorrect and it makes little sense. To make it grammatical, I'd say something like:

John felt resentment when Betty seduced himself.

But it still looks nonsensical. First of all, one cannot really seduce him/herself. You seduce other people but never yourself. Besides, Betty is a female name, so were it possible to seduce oneself, she'd be seducing "herself". If Betty seduced John, which would make sense, why would John feel resentment? Males rarely feel resentment when they are seduced by women, at least those males I know.

Perhaps you should tell us what you want to say in your own words.

GPY · Answer

B is equally wrong. "Betty seduced himself" is never going to be right. As I mentioned, "himself" appears to refer to Betty, which would be the wrong *** even if it were possible to seduce oneself. Additionally, "resented" cannot be intransitive.

CalifJim · Answer

John [was resentful / felt resentment / resented it] when Betty seduced him.

"when" introduces a new clause. You can't use a "self" word to refer back to something not mentioned in the same clause.

John resented it | when Betty seduced him (John).
...^ .................... | ................................. ^...................
.......................... | < ..........."self" only applies here ...>
____________________________________

John loved it | when Betty undressed herself (Betty).
.....................| ............^ .........................^ .......
This one is OK, albeit a bit racy.

CJ

Thfihe · Answer

Thank you. NNow I understand when-clauses cannot contain  "himself".

Thfihe · Answer

And thank you for telling my mistake of the usage of "resent".

CalifJim · Answer

thfihewhen-clauses cannot contain "himself".

Not true. You have misunderstood something. Read my reply again, especially noting my second example diagram. Here's another example:

Betty screamed when Thomas injured himself.

That has "himself" in a when-clause.

CJ

GPY · Answer

thfiheNNow I understand when-clauses cannot contain "himself".

That's not true. A "when" clause can contain "himself" if it refers back to someone mentioned within the clause. For example, "John gets annoyed when Dave contradicts himself" ("himself" = Dave).

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Note that if the subject in the when-clause is the same as the subject in the main clause, you can use the reflexive pronoun:

eg.
Jay yelled "ouch!" when he cut himself.
Mary felt happy when she looked at herself in the mirror.
The little boy smiled when he tied his shoelaces by himself.

ohn resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.

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