(I) as an object pronoun!

[ESL-lover]

Hello my senior teachers

I am confused about personal pronoun (I) as an object!

Look at theses examples:
Some people said:

Between you and I, I think his marriage is in trouble.
I think between you and me is more correct.

My brother is older than I.
Also, (than me is more correct).

Can we use (I) as an object only in spoken language?

What is the correct grammatically form?

Thank you ,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Tdol]

Between you and I, I think his marriage is in trouble.
I think between you and me is more correct.-

'Between you and I' is an error- it should be 'me'.

My brother is older than I.

'Than' is a conjunction so 'I' is correct'- it's not actually an object and this form would be more likely in formal English. . Many use 'me', though, so both forms are OK.

:lol:

 

[Lib]

According to many books (all of them published by Cambridge U P as far as I can remember) the comparative form goes as follows:
My brother is older than me.
or
My brother is older than I am.

 

[Tdol]

You don't need the verb, though many use it. ;-)

 

[dduck]

I agree with Lib. I believe it is incorrect to use "I" as on object pronoun. Some native speakers believe they are being more "refined" by substituting "I" for "me" e.g. between you and I. However, this - if I recall correctly - is diplomatically classed as "overcompensation" in my grammar book.

Iain

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello my senior teachers

I am confused about personal pronoun (I) as an object!

Look at theses examples:
Some people said:

Between you and I, I think his marriage is in trouble.
I think between you and me is more correct.

My brother is older than I.
Also, (than me is more correct).

Can we use (I) as an object only in spoken language?

What is the correct grammatically form?

Thank you ,,,,,,,,,,,

As others have told you, "I" is the nominative form of the first person pronoun. It should not be used as the object of a verb or preposition.

There is a dispute about "than I/than me". According to standard dictionaries, "than" is a conjunction. Some accept it as a preposition, but others call that a usage problem. The safest way to go is to use "than" only as a conjunction. That means that it should be followed by a pronoun in the nominative case.

He is taller than I.
I am quicker than she.

If one is uncomfortable with that structure, one can add the verb after the pronoun: than I am, than she is.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I agree with Lib. I believe it is incorrect to use "I" as on object pronoun. Some native speakers believe they are being more "refined" by substituting "I" for "me" e.g. between you and I. However, this - if I recall correctly - is diplomatically classed as "overcompensation" in my grammar book.

Iain

Most refer to that as "hypercorrection".

 

[dduck]

He is taller than I.
I am quicker than she.

If one is uncomfortable with that structure, one can add the verb after the pronoun: than I am, than she is.

I learned this when I studied German, which seems to have been less ravaged by the progress of time, compared to English.

Concerning you example usage above, according to Merriman-Webster "almost all usage book recognize the legitimacy of me [following than], especially in speech".

Personally, I prefer to teach common usage, with disclaimers, rather than follow the rules slavishly.

Iain

 

[Tdol]

Most purists would accept 'than whom', which would suggest that 'than' can be seen as a preposition as well as a conjunction. ;-)

 

[MikeNewYork]

He is taller than I.
I am quicker than she.

If one is uncomfortable with that structure, one can add the verb after the pronoun: than I am, than she is.

I learned this when I studied German, which seems to have been less ravaged by the progress of time, compared to English.

Concerning you example usage above, according to Merriman-Webster "almost all usage book recognize the legitimacy of me [following than], especially in speech".

Personally, I prefer to teach common usage, with disclaimers, rather than follow the rules slavishly.

Iain

This is a personal preference issue. I agree with Webster's about speech, but I also agree with this from AHD in formal writing:

Still, the writer who risks a sentence like "Mary is taller than him" in formal writing must be prepared to defend the usage against objections of critics who are unlikely to be dissuaded from the conviction that the usage is incorrect.

 

[Tdol]

I think that, even in formal writing, 'than him' would have few critics in the UK. There would, however, be some. ;-)

 

[dduck]

I think that, even in formal writing, 'than him' would have few critics in the UK. There would, however, be some. ;-)

I think only out and out purists would complain about "than him" in the UK. I've been writing formal documentation for years. People have quibbled about "its" and "it's" and "he/she" versus "their" but not once has anyone batted an eyelid at the suggestion of writing "than him".

However, on Channel 4 news I noticed the news reader, Jon Snow methinks, actually using the accusitive form when most speakers would normally use the dative. Interesting, maybe even strictly correct but by no means common.

No Sirie Bob!
Iain