Monday, May 30, 2016

Why not we?

Incorrect or do the rules of grammar change?

Surley it should be the nominative case?

4 comments:

Póló said...

I'm with the sub here. I've come up against this one a fair bit and gone for the pseudo nominative. Sounds more natural. "Churchill and we" sounds positively weird to me. As bad as "he told you and I", which, believe me, I've hard. The pseudo posh?

Michael Commane said...

I agree. It sounds more 'natural'. But it's wrong. Your 'he told you and I' is of course silly and 'pseudo posh'. But according to your logic they have as much 'right' to get confused with the object of a sentence as the sub has to get confused with the subject of the sentence.
Either it's right or wrong, otherwise a free-for-all and anything goes. And then it so easily can turn into a 'class thing'. I bet you tut tut when you hear 'I done it'.
When teaching in Newbridge College I was once pulled up for writing to parents saying 'from XXX and me..'.
Good idea to stick to the rules of grammar.
The Germans know English because they know their German grammar.

Sheila Mulcahy said...

A neat way out would be "Churchhill and ourselves". The French would say," et nous autres" in such a situation.

Michael Commane said...

Excellent solution.
Sheila Mulcahy from Cloghane? I'm honoured if so. Was only enquiring about you at the funeral of Mai Keane last week. Hello.
Delighted you read this blog.

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