Tag Archive - grammar tips

More Like Me or I?

saywhat2

Do you look more like me . . . or do you look more like I? The case of a pronoun following this kind of comparative structure, typically at the end of a sentence, depends on who or what is being compared.

If you write “My sister looks more like our father than I,” for example, one would assume that the “I” implies “I do.” But you wouldn’t fault someone for thinking you mean your sister looks more like your father than like you. This is often a source of confusion, so it’s best to reword for clarity. If the point is whether the sister looks more like the father, the pronoun should be objective (me, not I): my sister looks more like our father than she looks like me.

Instead of writing “My sister looks more like our father than me,” I might rewrite “My sister looks more like our father than like me.” That pretty much eliminates the problem. And if you add the word do to that first example, you won’t have any confusion either: “”My sister looks more like our father than I do.”

Between I or Me?

saywhat2

I see this a lot, and from what I’ve researched, objective case confuses some people. It does me too. A quickie grammar lesson. When you have a subject of a sentence, you’ll often find an object somewhere near or at the end. For instance, the sentence “He passed the food to me” has He as the subject and me as the object. In this sentence: “He passed the food between us,” the word us is in the objective (think object) case. We don’t say, “He passed the food between we.” We is in the subjective (subject) case. So if you put on your thinking cap, which is the correct sentence below?

  • Just between you and I, I think the guy’s nuts.
  • Just between you and me, I think the guy’s nuts.

If you said the second one is correct, you’re right. Between and all other prepositions are followed by the objective case, like:

  • He stood before you and me
  • The truth is within you and me
  • The sky is above you and him (not he)

So between you and me, this isn’t all that hard, is it?

Do Signs Read?

saywhat2

Do you find it a little kooky as I do that we have expressions like “the sign said . . .” or “the notice read . . .”? I mean, signs can’t talk, and notices haven’t gone to school. But what’s implied by these expressions is something along the lines of “the person who wrote the sign said . . . ” Regardless, since signs aren’t people or talking animals, they don’t need speaker tags. If you remember the rule, whenever you use a speaker tag, you put a comma before the speech: George said, “Keep out.”

With something like a sign you don’t need the comma. Just say: The sign said “Keep Out.”

If you are referring to a type of sign or notice, just give it initial caps.

Examples:

  • Pay attention to the No Smoking sign
  • I ignored the Keep Out sign

The same principle applies to forms:

  • Fill out that Consent to Search form

In your spare time, if you’re bored, you could try to teach your signs to read. Good luck.

 

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