A Sad Case

You have words - now what do you do with them?
brogine
Lexiterian
Posts: 232
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 4:41 pm

A Sad Case

Postby brogine » Tue Feb 08, 2022 1:47 am

One of the few things I learned in high school - isolating subjects/objects.

I don’t say, “Me wen’ to de can’y staw onna cawna”. Ergo, I don’t say, “Me an’ my brudda wen’ to de can’y staw onna cawna.”

You wouldn’t say, presumably, “Lady Ticklebottom invited I down for a weekend of grouse shooting”, so why, oh why (I weep), my otherwise learned friend, must you say “Lady Ticklebottom invited my wife and I down for a weekend of grouse shooting”?
Last edited by brogine on Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Audiendus
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Location: London, UK

Re: A Sad Case

Postby Audiendus » Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:40 am

What do you think about the following?

If you were I, you would do the same.
You could wave a magic wand and become I.

brogine
Lexiterian
Posts: 232
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 4:41 pm

Re: A Sad Case

Postby brogine » Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:05 pm

Thanks. You probably have a deeper point (out of my depth), but on a basic level, I’d say the first is correct and the second not.
Then again, ‘to be’ taking the subjective seems to be on the way out.
“Language is what people say, not what I say.”

Audiendus
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Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:08 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: A Sad Case

Postby Audiendus » Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:57 pm

If you were I, you would do the same.
You could wave a magic wand and become I.
Yes, the second one is odd. 'Become' (in the sense of 'come to be') is a linking verb (copula), so grammatically it should be followed by the subjective case 'I', but that doesn't look right at all!

brogine
Lexiterian
Posts: 232
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 4:41 pm

Re: A Sad Case

Postby brogine » Thu Feb 10, 2022 5:17 pm

Interesting. Now I have a new way to be annoying.


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