(do something) yourself

When you tell someone "___ yourself!" you're saying that they should do it, not you or someone else:

A: Clean up that mess!

B: Clean it up yourself.

If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

You can also use "yourself", "myself", "herself", etc. in questions and descriptions:

Are you sure that's what happened? Did you see it yourself?

A: Your hair looks great. Did you get it colored?

B: Yeah, I actually did it myself.

Notice that "___ yourself" is different from "___ by yourself". Doing something "by yourself" means doing it without other people helping or joining you:

Sometimes I like to go out to see a movie by myself.

Eating lunch by yourself in middle school or high school is really sad and embarrassing.

I recorded the album myself, but I didn't do it completely by myself. I got some help from Ronnie and a friend of his who's worked at a recording studio.

This phrase appears in these lessons: