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Thread: he or him

  1. #1
    allthewayanime is offline Member
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    Default he or him

    Is this sentence correct?

    'Personally for me, him not saying anything at all was just too much.'( shouldn't it be 'he' instead of 'him'?)

  2. #2
    5jj's Avatar
    5jj
    5jj is online now Moderator
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    Default Re: he or him

    'Personally for me, his not saying anything at all was just too much.

    That's the safest form, in my opinion. 'Saying' has some verb-like characteristics - it has 'anything' as its direct object - but it is also functioning as a noun, the subject of the verb 'was'. As 'he' cannot be the grammatical subject of the non-finite 'saying', the possessive determiner is the logical choice for the noun 'saying'.

    Having said that, I think you'll hear all three, he/him/his, being used.
    Last edited by 5jj; 13-Feb-2012 at 20:24. Reason: typo
    bhaisahab and ridvann like this.
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