Not I

[Tdol]

What part of speech is 'not' here?

[Casiopea]

What part of speech is 'not' here?

It's an adverb.
Used elliptically.

Q: Who ate the cake?
A: Not me. (It was not me.) *popular

Q: Who ate the cake?
A: Not I. (It was not I.) *traditional grammar

According to traditional grammarians (Prescriptivist), linking verbs such as forms of 'to be' (is, are, was, were, etc.) link the subject with its complement. Complements refer back to the subject so they are considered 'nominative' (subject) in form. Which means, pronouns coming after the linking verb 'to be' should be nominative in form: I, she, he, we, they. For example,

Q: Who ate the cake?
A: Not I.

On the phone:

Pat: Hello, may I speak with Sam, please?
Sam: This is she.

But, keep in mind, those examples are based on what Prescriptivists would advise. As for Descriptivists, they'd point out that "me" is more popular these days than "I". The reason being, the pronoun comes after the verb which is a position reserved for objects, and hence speakers tend to choose "me" over "I" in that context.

Other 'not' example:

Q: Is she coming?
A: I hope not. (I hope she is not coming)

Q: Do you want it?
A: Certainly not! (I certainly do not want it.)

Cas :) That was fun! Thanx

[riverkid]

According to traditional grammarians (Prescriptivist), linking verbs such as forms of 'to be' (is, are, was, were, etc.) link the subject with its complement. Complements refer back to the subject so they are considered 'nominative' (subject) in form. Which means, pronouns coming after the linking verb 'to be' should be nominative in form: I, she, he, we, they. For example,

But, keep in mind, those examples are based on what Prescriptivists would advise. As for Descriptivists, they'd point out that "me" is more popular these days than "I". The reason being, the pronoun comes after the verb which is a position reserved for objects, and hence speakers tend to choose "me" over "I" in that context.

I think this makes it sound as if there was something to the prescriptive rule, Casiopea. It was wrong from the get go, penned as it was using Latin as a guideline.

Language rules are not simply a matter of popularity. Just because Latin deals with something in a certain manner [using the nominative in predicative complements] doesn't mean that English must follow that rule.

English is English and Latin is Latin and never the twain shall meet, though they might pass each other in the night.

[dihen]

On the phone:
`
Pat: Hello, may I speak with Sam, please?
Sam: This is she.

Would anyone say "This is her." there?

[MrPedantic]

Would anyone say "This is her." there?

Hello Dihen

I wouldn't say "This is her"; but I might say "This is him". (Though actually, I would probably say "Yes, speaking".)

MrP

[RonBee]

Good explanation!

• "Who ate my porridge" said Baby Bear?
  "Not I" said Mama Bear.
  "Not I" said Papa Bear.

:wink:

[Tdol]

What do you think of the current usage of 'particle' for 'not'?

[Casiopea]

What do you think of the current usage of 'particle' for 'not'?

Well, hmm, well, lemme see. The word 'not' in not at all and not quite and not John functions as an adverb. It negates the verb.

I slept until 6:00.
Not John. He did not sleep until 6:00.

Adverbs are major parts of speech, as are nouns, verbs, adjectives and prepositions.

Particles, on the other hand, are defined as minor parts of speech, especially short undeclinable ones, like the ones we see attached to phrasal verbs.

However, if you can show that not is a part of (a particle) of a phrasal verb, then I'd have to agree with using the term 'particle' in that particular context.

Do you have some examples?

Cas :)

[Tdol]

I'm not a fan of the term 'particle' at all. I think it's not particularly useful to have what is basically a dustbin category. I think of phrasal verbs consisting of verb & adverb combinations. Some use the term particle for 'not' and 'to' as the infinitive marker. Again, I'm not enamoured of this. I was interested to see what you thought.

Thanks

[Tdol]

It's an adverb.
Used elliptically.

Q: Who ate the cake?
A: Not me. (It was not me.) *popular

Q: Who ate the cake?
A: Not I. (It was not I.) *traditional grammar

According to traditional grammarians (Prescriptivist), linking verbs such as forms of 'to be' (is, are, was, were, etc.) link the subject with its complement. Complements refer back to the subject so they are considered 'nominative' (subject) in form. Which means, pronouns coming after the linking verb 'to be' should be nominative in form: I, she, he, we, they. For example,

Q: Who ate the cake?
A: Not I.

On the phone:

Pat: Hello, may I speak with Sam, please?
Sam: This is she.

But, keep in mind, those examples are based on what Prescriptivists would advise. As for Descriptivists, they'd point out that "me" is more popular these days than "I". The reason being, the pronoun comes after the verb which is a position reserved for objects, and hence speakers tend to choose "me" over "I" in that context.

Other 'not' example:

Q: Is she coming?
A: I hope not. (I hope she is not coming)

Q: Do you want it?
A: Certainly not! (I certainly do not want it.)

Cas :) That was fun! Thanx

Which do you use? I would only use 'I' in very formal conversations.