[Grammar] Correct usage of me or my

[Hibbeki]

Which is correct?
Tomorrow we can go biking instead of my doing yoga.
Or
Tomorrow we can go biking instead of me doing yoga.

 

[bhaisahab]

The second one.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In my opinion, they are both grammatical.

The first ends with possessive adjective + gerund.
The second ends with objective pronoun + participle.

In most cases, the two forms have the same meaning.

 

[tedmc]

What about: Tomorrow we can go biking instead of I doing yoga.

 

[emsr2d2]

No.

 

[tedmc]

Why?

 

[Matthew Wai]

Because you cannot use the subject form after a preposition.

Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Does "I" follow a preposition in your experience?

 

[tedmc]

Not that I have used it before.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Then have you seen it before?

 

[MikeNewYork]

If he did, it was an error.

 

[Checkmate]

In my opinion, they are both grammatical.

The first ends with possessive adjective + gerund.
The second ends with objective pronoun + participle.

In most cases, the two forms have the same meaning.

Can it be a gerund if you use objective pronoun before it?

 

[MikeNewYork]

No.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Can it be a gerund if you use objective pronoun before it?

It can only be a present participle modifying the pronoun.

Not a teacher.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Hibbeki:

Here is some information that may help you make your own decision.

1. It is a question of Henry going.

2. It is a question of Henry's going.

Two experts say that in #1, the emphasis is on "Henry"; in #2, the emphasis is on the idea expressed by the gerund going.


Authority: R.W. Pence (Depauw University) and D.W. Perry (University of Washington), A Grammar of Present-Day English (second edition copyrighted in 1963), pages 312 - 313.

P.S. The scholars add: "But other things being equal, usually a gerund modified by a possessive will express an idea more neatly than a participle modifying an substantive [(pro)noun]."

 

[Matthew Wai]

Hello, TheParser:

I respectfully advise you to review your opinions about gerunds in this post, because MikeNewYork told me in this post that there are several mistakes in your post.

Not a teacher.

 

[jutfrank]

They are both grammatically correct, though the second one is probably less natural to most people's ears.

 

[bhaisahab]

I should have thought that the first one was less natural to most people.

 

[konungursvia]

I should have thought that the first one was less natural to most people.

I agree.

 

[jutfrank]

Please pardon! I meant to say the first was more natural, sorry.