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Sounding,
and Writing,
Like You’re
Smart
Actually, it’s
Sounding
as if
you’re
smart.
Like is a preposition;
as is a conjunction,
but we’ll
save that one
for another
time and place.
O. K. Here
are two biggies;
what do you
think?
- Between
you and (I,
me)…
- It is (I,
me)…
In many languages,
nouns take on
different forms
to accommodate
different uses.
Thankfully in
English we’re
spared those
distinctions
except as they
apply to the
personal pronouns:
I/me, we/us,
he/him, she/her,
they/them.
In each pairing,
the example
on the left
is used in subject
position –
generally before
the verb and,
typically, the
doer of the
verb’s
action. The
right side example
falls in object
positions: direct
object, indirect
object, object
of preposition.
If you didn’t
know the answers
earlier, do
you know them
now?
In our first
example, the
answer is ME.
You know that
me is not a
subject position
pronoun because
you know not
to say, “Me
am very hungry.”
Hey, you’re
not Tarzan.
Between
is a preposition
and prepositions
are followed
by objects.
Another example
is, “People
like you and
ME are better
writers because
we attended
fixwrite’s
seminar on effective
writing.”
All right, all
right, then,
how about this
one, “Everybody
in the group
was invited
to the party
except you and
(I, me).
Last word: between,
like, and except
are prepositions;
prepositions
(about,
above, across,
against, et
al) are
followed by
object form
personal pronouns.
In our second
example, the
answer is I.
Perhaps this
is the simplest
explanation:
See how it and
I are the same
person? And
do you understand
that It is in
the subject
position ion
the sentence?
So, wouldn’t
it make sense
that a pronoun
referring to
a subject would
take a subject
form? There
are a couple
of issues at
play here, Agreement
and Case.
The former is
covered in Section
II of The
Principles of
Effective Writing;
the latter is
covered in Section
VI.
Try these:
- It was (he,
him) who took
the lead.
- (We, us)
boys are going
swimming this
afternoon.
- No one
told Jenna
or (I, me)
about the
party.
- Did Margaret
or (she, her)
leave a message?
- When are
mama and (they,
them) coming
home?
Would
you like more
Writing Tips?
Periodically,
FixWrite sends
case studies
in grammar and
punctuation
aimed to improve
your writing
skills.
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