Prev | Current Page 124 | Next

Bechtel, John Hendricks, 1841-

"Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking"

The
choice of the appropriate pronoun, the agreement with its antecedent,
the proper case form, are matters that require careful consideration.
Case Forms
Following am, are, is, was, and other forms of the verb to be, the
pronoun must be in the nominative case.
"Are you the person that called?" "Yes; I am him." The answer should
have been, "I am he."
"I saw a man trespassing on my grounds, and I think you are him." Say,
"You are he."
"It is only me; don't be afraid." "It is only I" is the correct form.
"It was him that struck you, not me." Change him, to he, and me to I.
"It might have been him that sent you the present." Use he, not him.
_________________________________________________________________
130
"It is him whom you said it was." The sentence should be, "It is he
who you said it was."
"That was but a picture of him and not him himself." Say, "and not he
himself."
After Verbs and Prepositions
When a pronoun depends upon a verb or a preposition the pronoun must
be in the objective case.
"Between you and I, that picture is very faulty." The pronouns you and
I depend upon the preposition between.


Pages:
112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136