Learn English – Is it correct to end a sentence with “I thought to theself”

prepositional-phrasesprepositionsreported-speechtransitivity

I was reading a novel and a sentence in the novel did not sound correct to me. Please check and let me know if it sounds normal or not. If it is correct, then please let me know what it means.

From the novel:

Unless you try to talk to guys, genius, I thought to myself. Walking
over to the door, I closed and locked it. Next time I wanted to do
something like spin in circles, I needed to close my door first.
Source: Bad for You, by Abbi Glines

As per my opinion:

Unless you try to talk to guys, genius, I thought myself. Walking
over to the door, I closed and locked it. Next time I wanted to do
something like spin in circles, I needed to close my door first.

“I thought of myself” or “I thought about myself” could also be possible, but they do not suit the situation.

Best Answer

I believe the author is trying to say that the main character thought (without letting it be known to others, i.e., to herself) the following: “Unless you try to talk to guys, genius.”

This could be made clearer by writing it with quotation marks, like so:

“Unless you try to talk to guys, genius,” I thought to myself.

Related Topic