Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner12]

Hello, teachers!!

(1) The reason why he was late was that he had overslept himself.
(2) The reason that he was late was that he had overslept himself.

Which is correct, (1) or (2)? I think that (1) is correct, but I am not sure.

Thank you in advance.

[pugachevV]

Most of us would say, " He was late because he overslept" or "The reason he was late was that he had overslept."
You do not need to include himself because oversleep is an intransitive verb.
Apart from that, either of your two sentences is acceptable English.

[learner12]

Dear pugachevV:

Thank you so much for your quick and great replies.

Take care and have a nice day!

[buddhaheart]

I think the reason Learner12 should not include the emphatic or reflexive pronoun �himself� in the sentence is not so much that the verb �overslept� is an intransitive one (not that it is not), rather it is for the reason that it does not add any meaning to the sentence. It does not do the emphasizing as an emphatic pronoun or function reflexively as a reflexive pronoun.

If I arbitrarily add a sentence to Learner12�s original one to emphasize the fact that I was late too because of oversleeping like �I was late as I myself also overslept,� it would probably make some sense here.

[learner12]

Dear buddhaheart:

Thank you so much for your new intelligence.

Take care and have a nice day!!