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Which is correct: "The animal within you" or "The animal within yourself"?

English Language & Usage Asked by Matthew Cameron on June 30, 2021

I’m coming up with a slogan for my DJ personal brand. I want to convey the idea that we all have a wild side in us waiting to be triggered. From similar questions, it seems that either version would work in the given context, but there were no upvotes or response, so I’m not sure about validity.

Which is proper" "The animal within you" or "The animal within yourself"?

Example: "Hey friend, there is an animal within you waiting to be unleashed". From here, the slogan would be cut down to "The animal within you".

The first version using "you" would be ideal, otherwise I will come up with something completely different.

Thanks all!

2 Answers

“The animal within you” is better. “Yourself” is distracting, as if the animal could be hiding in him- or herself.

Answered by user416741 on June 30, 2021

It happens that "you" is said with both "within" and "in", but that "yourself" is said only with "within" (ngram). From the sense that can be made out from the books the meaning is the same in all three cases. It seems to me, therefore, that you can use as well "the animal within yourself" at no risk of being wrong. However, if you want an expression with the most chance to sound familiar to the greatest number, you should use "within you", or even "in you".

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Answered by LPH on June 30, 2021

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