| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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1. Grammar: Traditional Rules, Word Order, Agreement, and Case
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| § 52. pronouns, personal |
| This entry treats personal pronouns only; usage issues involving interrogative, relative, and indefinite pronouns are addressed at entries for specific words (that, who, etc.). | 1 |
A number of usage problems involving personal pronouns are questions of which case to use in a given situation. The cases of personal pronouns are listed in the table below as an aid in understanding the case problems discussed here.
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Nominative Case
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Singular
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Plural
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| First Person |
I |
we |
| Second Person |
you |
you |
| Third Person |
he, she, it |
they |
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Objective Case
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Singular
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Plural
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| First Person |
me |
us |
| Second Person |
you |
you |
| Third Person |
him, her, it |
them |
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Possessive Case
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Singular
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Plural
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| First Person |
my |
our |
| Second Person |
your |
your |
| Third Person |
his, her, its |
their |
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2 |
| personal pronouns after as. Your mother is just as proud as me, said the father to the child with good grades. But should he have said, Your mother is just as proud as I? As with similar constructions using than, there is a traditional rule stating that the pronoun following as … as … constructions must be in the nominative case, demonstrated by the fact that She is just as proud as I is really a truncated version of the sentence She is just as proud as I am. Another way to put it would be to say that the second as functions as a conjunction, not as a preposition, in these sentences. Whatever the merits of this logic, the as me construction is very common in speech and appears regularly in the writing of highly respected writers. Moreover, you can argue that the second as is really a preposition in these constructions and demands the objective case. And there is the objection that as I constructions are overly formal, even pretentious. In short, both constructions are defensible and both are subject to attack. When you want to play it safe, use the as I construction, but throw in the verb to make it a clause: She is just as proud as I am. | 3 |
| personal pronouns after forms of be. That must be him on the phone. No, it must be he. Traditional grammar requires the nominative form of the pronoun following the verb be: It is I (not me); That must be they (not them), and so forth. Nearly everyone finds this rule difficult to follow. Even if everyone could follow it, in informal contexts the nominative pronoun often sounds pedantic and even ridiculous, especially when the verb is contracted. Who would ever say It’s we? But constructions like It is me have been condemned in the classroom and in writing handbooks for so long that there seems little likelihood that they will ever be entirely acceptable in formal writing. | 4 |
| The traditional rule creates additional problems when the pronoun following be also functions as the object of a verb or preposition in a relative clause, as in It is not them/they that we have in mind when we talk about “crime in the streets” nowadays, where the plural pronoun serves as both the predicate of is and the object of have. In this example, 57 percent of the Usage Panel prefers the nominative form they, 33 percent prefer the objective them, and 10 percent accept both versions. Perhaps the best strategy is to revise these sentences to avoid the problem. You can say instead They are not the ones we have in mind, We have someone else in mind, and so on. | 5 |
| personal pronouns after but. Should you say No one but I read the book or No one but me read the book? If but is a conjunction in these sentences, you should use the nominative form I. If but is a preposition, you should use me. So which is it—conjunction or preposition? Although some grammarians have insisted that but is a conjunction here, they have had to admit that the objective form me is appropriate when the but phrase occurs at the end of a sentence, as in No one has read it but me. And in fact there is a strong case for viewing but as a preposition in all of these constructions. For one thing, if but were truly a conjunction, you would expect the verb to agree in person and number with the noun or pronoun following but. You would then say No one but the students have read it, but you normally say No one … has read it. What is more, a conjunction cannot be moved to the end of a clause, as in No one has read it but the students. You can tell this because you cannot use the similar conjunction and in this way. That is, you cannot say John left and everyone else in the class. For these reasons it seems best to consider but as a preposition in these constructions and to use the objective forms of pronouns such as me and them in all positions: No one but me has read it. No one has read it but me. These recommendations are supported by 73 percent of the Usage Panel when the but phrase precedes the verb and by 93 percent when the but phrase follows the verb. | 6 |
| personal pronouns after except. Just like but, except in the sense of “with the exclusion of” or “other than” is generally viewed as a preposition, not a conjunction. Therefore, a personal pronoun that follows except should be in the objective case: No one except me knew it. Every member of the original cast was signed except her. | 7 |
| personal pronouns after than. Grammarians have insisted since the 18th century that than should be regarded as a conjunction in all its uses. By this thinking, a sentence such as Bill is taller than Tom is really a truncated version of the sentence Bill is taller than Tom is. Accordingly, when a pronoun follows than in sentences like this, it should be in the nominative case since it is the subject of the verb that is “understood.” Thus the rule requires Bill is taller than he (not him). But when applied to sentences in which the pronoun following than is the object of an understood verb, the rule requires that the pronoun be in the objective case. Thus you must say The news surprised Pat more than me, since this sentence is considered a truncated version of The news surprised Pat more than it surprised me. The rule is logical and neat, and no harm can come from following it in formal writing, but people often don’t follow it, especially when speaking. In fact, than has been used as a preposition since the 1500s in sentences like John is taller than me. In these cases the pronoun is in the objective case where the rule would require the nominative. This construction appears in the writing of some of our most respected writers, among them Shakespeare, Johnson, Swift, Scott, and Faulkner. So if you choose to ignore the grammarian’s rule, you are in good company. If you want even more justification, remember that than is clearly treated as a preposition in the than whom construction, as in a poet than whom (not than who) no one has a dearer place in the hearts of his countrymen. Still, if you find you have written a sentence such as Mary is taller than him, don’t be surprised if some of your readers object. | 8 |
| between you and I. “All debts are cleared between you and I,” writes Antonio to Bassanio in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Did Shakespeare commit a blunder, writing I where the objective form me is required? | 9 |
| When pronouns joined by a conjunction occur as the object of a preposition such as between, according to, or like, many people use the nominative form where the traditional grammatical rule would require the objective. They say between you and I rather than between you and me, and so forth. | 10 |
| Shakespeare can hardly have violated a rule of formal English grammar, since he and his contemporaries studied Latin grammar, not English. In fact, the rule outlawing between you and I did not get written until the 1860s. It has since become part of standard schoolroom grammar. Writing between you and I is now widely regarded as a sign of ignorance, even though the phrase occurs quite often in speech. So don’t feel bad if you catch yourself saying it. Just remember: if you want to avoid trouble, stick to between you and me in formal speech and writing. | 11 |
| personal pronouns in compound subjects. When pronouns are joined with other nouns or pronouns by and or or, there is a widespread tendency to use the objective form even when the phrase is the subject of the sentence: Robert and her are not speaking to each other. Me and Kate are going to the store. This usage is common in colloquial speech, but the nominative forms should be used in formal speech and writing: John and she (not her) will be giving the talk. When the form I is used, it is almost invariably the last element in the phrase: Mr. McCarty and I have formed a partnership. | 12 |
| me for I did—the objective case as acceptable subject. Who cut down the cherry tree? What do you say to such a question when you feel the only responsible thing to do is to own up to it, Me or I? In such cases it is pedantic to apply the traditional rule that requires the nominative form of the pronoun when the objective form sounds more natural. Thus, we more colloquially say Me, even though you can argue that I must be correct here as a truncated version of I did. | 13 |
| When a pronoun is used as a subject together with a noun, people tend to use the objective form, as in Us engineers were left without any technical support. In formal speech or writing the nominative we would be preferable here. If you feel uncomfortable about either choice, you should rewrite the sentence to avoid the difficulty. | 14 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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