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Used Transitively, ?Avail? Is a Reflexive Verb

By Maeve

I noticed the following sentence in a travel blog. It refers to the availability of rental lockers in French railway stations:

[Travelers] can therefore once again avail of these services particularly in main train stations in France.

In this sentence, avail requires an object: …avail themselves of these services.

Avail can be used intransitively (without an object). Here are some examples of the intransitive use of avail from Webster’s Unabridged:

Heroism could not avail against the enemy fire.
The wall could not avail to protect the town against cannon.
No comparison would avail; he was one of a kind.

When used transitively, the object of avail is usually the reflexive form of the subject:

I availed myself of the library facilities.
He availed himself of the free lunch.
They availed themselves of the coupon.
We availed ourselves of the use of the neighbor’s lawnmower.

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Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on April 01, 2008 (boomark / email).