phrasal verb · neutral
bring oneself to
UK/brɪŋ wʌnˈself tuː/US/brɪŋ wʌnˈsɛlf tu/BRING one·SELF TO
to force or manage yourself to do something you really do not want to do
Examples
“I knew I should apologise, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.”
“After looking at the old photos, he couldn't bring himself to throw them away.”
“She could hardly bring herself to admit she had been wrong.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although I knew it would upset him, I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth.”
Collocations
- couldn't bring oneself to + verb
- finally brought herself to + verb
- bring yourself to admit / tell / throw away
Word family
Common mistakes
I couldn't bring to tell him the truth.→I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth.
She couldn't bring herself telling him.→She couldn't bring herself to tell him.
I made myself to go there.→I made myself go there.
Say it for a higher band
5make myself do→6force myself to→7+bring oneself to
Synonyms
force oneself to
muster the courage to
Easily confused
force oneself to
“She couldn't force herself to throw away the old letters.”
Related words
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