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English tends to use accusative pronouns whenever they aren't clearly the subject of a sentence or clause, even when classical grammatical rules call for the nominative. Another example: "Who's the...
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#2: Post edited
by
gmcgath
·
2022-06-23T12:37:58Z (almost 2 years ago)
- English tends to use accusative pronouns whenever they aren't clearly the subject of a sentence or clause, even when classical grammatical rules call for the nominative. Another example: "Who's there?" "It's me." Classical grammar says it should be "It is I," but that sounds positively Shakespearean.
It's hard to say why these shifts happen. The vestigial nature of the case system in English may have something to do with it. There's a constant tension between what follow the rules and what sounds right in ordinary speech. There are even cases where people misapply the rules and commit case errors in order to sound high-class, e.g., "between you and I."
- English tends to use accusative pronouns whenever they aren't clearly the subject of a sentence or clause, even when classical grammatical rules call for the nominative. Another example: "Who's there?" "It's me." Classical grammar says it should be "It is I," but that sounds positively Shakespearean.
- It's hard to say why these shifts happen. The vestigial nature of the case system in English may have something to do with it. There's a constant tension between what follows the rules and what sounds right in ordinary speech. There are even cases where people misapply the rules and commit case errors in order to sound high-class, e.g., "between you and I."
#1: Initial revision
by
gmcgath
·
2022-06-22T14:46:41Z (almost 2 years ago)
English tends to use accusative pronouns whenever they aren't clearly the subject of a sentence or clause, even when classical grammatical rules call for the nominative. Another example: "Who's there?" "It's me." Classical grammar says it should be "It is I," but that sounds positively Shakespearean. It's hard to say why these shifts happen. The vestigial nature of the case system in English may have something to do with it. There's a constant tension between what follow the rules and what sounds right in ordinary speech. There are even cases where people misapply the rules and commit case errors in order to sound high-class, e.g., "between you and I."