[Grammar] He is taller than her.

[GSKums]

Dear Sir,
Please let me know what is the correct sentence from these two and the difference in meaning if both are correct.
1. He is taller than her.
2. He is taller than she is.

Thanking for your cooperation,

Kind regards

GSKums

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: What is correct?

[STRIKE]Dear Sir,[/STRIKE] No salutation is necessary, and you may get an answer from a female member of the forum.

Please let me know what is the correct sentence from these two and the difference in meaning if both are correct.

1. He is taller than her.
2. He is taller than she is.

[STRIKE]Thanking for your cooperation,[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Just click 'Thank' when you get a useful answer.

[STRIKE]Kind regards[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]GSKums[/STRIKE] Unnecessary.

Your sentences are both correct and mean the same.

***

Please note that I have changed your thread title.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[bigC]

Re: What is correct?

Is "He is taller than she" also correct?

 

[GoesStation]

Re: What is correct?

Some teachers may still insist that "He is taller than she" is the correct sentence and the one with "her" is wrong. You should ignore them.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Dear teachers,
Please let me know which is the correct sentence of these two and the difference in meaning if both are correct.
1. He is taller than her.
2. He is taller than she is.

Thanks for your assistance​.

Kind regards,

GSKums

This is a gray area. As you can see from the above answers, native English speakers will disagree.

Personally, I like example 2 better. If you turned example 1 around, it would say "Her is shorter than he" - which sounds terrible and isn't grammatical.

But a third option, "He is taller than she," doesn't sound very good, either. Even though it's grammatical, it has a stuffy, formal, snooty sound.

So I'd use example 2. But that doesn't mean anyone above is wrong. As you can see, "than her" is common usage and widely accepted.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: What is correct?

Some teachers may still insist that "He is taller than she" is the correct sentence and the one with "her" is wrong. You should ignore them.

I'm not a teacher, so you don't have to ignore me!

 

[GoesStation]

If you turned example 1 around, it would say "Her is shorter than he" - which sounds terrible and isn't grammatical.

The solution is not to turn it around. In "He is shorter than her," her is a disjunctive pronoun - a pronoun of one form used as another. Unlike French, English can use object-form pronouns as subject pronouns only at the end of a phrase, not at the beginning.

Grammarians of the past decreed that pronouns couldn't be used so flexibly in English, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. They invented a rule which plagued generations of English students and which should be unceremoniously disposed of.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The members here have not disagreed.

Yes. But GS rightly noted that "ome teachers may still insist that 'He is taller than she' is the correct sentence . . . ." That suggests a gray area.

Meanwhile, I said the second example is better, and not all the members agreed with that. For instance, Rover said (with good reason, as I said): "Your sentences are both correct and mean the same."

I don't infer from that that Rover likes the second example better. So we disagree.

I have several reference books that demand "she" or "she is." I don't! As far as I'm concerned, both are acceptable. Then I expressed my preference and explained why.

Are you concerned that I'm misleading GSK? That would be bad!

 

[jutfrank]

It's difficult to deny that this is a grey area. The question is how grey?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

As gray as me. As I. As I am. Grr.

 

[GoesStation]

I'd say either "as grey as me" or "as grey as I am". I wouldn't say "as grey as I".

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


Hello, GSKums:

May I add my two cents?

I suggest the following:

1. If you want to follow the rules found in traditional secondary school books, then say and write "Raul is taller than she."

a Some books feel that sentence is short for "Raul is taller than she [is tall]."
b. Some university-level books disagree.

2 I suggest that in ordinary conversation, you just say, "Raul is taller than her."

a That is definitely how most Americans speak nowadays.
b. If you say "she, " some of your listeners may actually think that you are speaking "bad" English, for they probably do not know the rule.
c. The goal of good communication is to "connect" with your listeners/readers. There is no value in speaking/writing in a way that will confuse them.

3. I suggest that in formal writing, you might consider writing "Raul is taller than she."

a. There is a greater possibility that people who read formal writing may be aware of the rule.

4. Whichever word you decide to use, be consistent.

a. If you choose "she," then do NOT change it to "her" during the same conversation, speech, letter, or article.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . I suggest that in ordinary conversation, you just say, "Raul is taller than her."

a That is definitely how most Americans speak nowadays . . . .

Parser is exactly right on all counts. But let's not skip "than she is," which is an important part of American English.

As Parser says, it's highly unlikely that you'll ever hear an American use "than she" (yuck!), but it's very common to hear "than she is." And while it's absolutely true that many Americans would say "than her," there are plenty of us who don't use "her" that way.

So, GSKums, we'll all understand you, no matter which you choose. I'll make you a deal. If you'll use "she is" if you ever visit the US, I'll use "her" if I ever visit England.