In 1958, a self-described 42-year-old kid named Robert Paul Smith penned a little book titled How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself (public library), a book of advice on how to make one’s own fun, supplied with nothing more than pencils, blades of grass, handkerchiefs, rubber bands, and broken umbrellas. These are things kids can do by themselves. There are no kits to build these things. There are no classes to learn these things, no teachers to teach them, they don’t need any help from their mother or their father or anybody.

With a wink — perhaps inadvertent — to the existential value of philosophy, Smith writes:

I understand some people get worried about kids who spend a lot of time all alone, by themselves. I do a little worrying about that, but I worry about something else even more; about kids who don’t know how to spend any time all alone, by themselves. It’s something you’re going to be doing a whole lot of, no matter what, for the rest of your lives. And I think it’s a good thing to do; you get to know yourself, and I think that’s the most important thing in the whole world.

Now, alone or by oneself?

That’s a really great question because alone and by oneself are very similar in meaning, but there is one key difference. So, let’s have a look at these words, what they mean, and how you can use them in everyday English. We’ll also look at the idiom, to go it alone.

Here are the example sentences. To get the details of this English lesson, you need to listen to this podcast. And make a careful note of his comments! 😉

• I was home alone.
• I was home by myself.
• Jack lives alone in Brooklyn.
• Jack lives by himself in Brooklyn.
• Jenny will be by herself for the first time when she moves from her parent’s house to her new apartment.
• Jenny will be living alone for the first time when she moves from her parent’s house to her new apartment.

• I fixed my computer by myself.
• I baked this cake by myself. Do you like it?
• I heard that Tommy built a computer by himself. He’s so clever!
• My friend Lauren is good at sewing, and she even made her wedding dress by herself.

• None of my friends wanted to go to the concert so I’m going to go it alone.
• When Jack’s wife told him that she didn’t want to go hiking in the mountains, he decided to go it alone.
• If you don’t want to go on the safari with me, I’m going to go it alone.