Reflexive pronouns

I think it's better to say:

A person who talks to him or herself or

A person who talks to himself or herself.

@Dr Ahmed posted:

Hi, Mr. David    Hi, all

A person who talks to ............ is not necessarily mad.     ( oneself -  himself )

I think ONESELF is the answer. What do you think ?

Hi, Dr Ahmed—Please do not address questions to anyone in particular here, including me. Any member is welcome to reply in a given thread if he or she has something to add.

"Oneself" is not the answer; indeed, "oneself" would be ungrammatical there. For "oneself" to work, the subject would need to be changed to "one": "One who talks to oneself is not necessarily mad."

"Himself" works fine: "A person who talks to himself is not necessarily mad." As Ahmed towab points out, you can also use "himself or herself," to be more inclusive. The other choice, "him- or herself," requires a suspensive hyphen.

Hello, Dr Ahmed.

If you're not sure about the gender of the person you're writing about, you can use the gender-neutral alternative "themself." But this pronoun is sometimes considered as incorrect.

From Macmillan Dictionary.

@Jack Milgram posted:

If you're not sure about the gender of the person you're writing about, you can use the gender-neutral alternative "themself."

That's a daring option. A safer option is to use the plural, with a plural subject: "People who talk to themselves are not necessarily mad."