comparitive tense object

Question

when I compare one object with another.I am taller than my brother.If I want to use a preposition will it be an object pronoun like "him"or should I say "I am taller/older/smarter/weaker than he"

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

addyaddy when I compare one object with another.I am taller than my brother.If I want to use a preposition will it be an object pronoun like "him"or should I say "I am taller/older/smarter/weaker than he"

Some people claim that only 'he' is correct, but many people use 'him', feeling that 'he' sounds a little stuffy.

Cool Breeze · Answer

This has been discussed countless times on these forums and elsewhere. There is no agreement. My opinion is that both are correct:

I am taller than he/him.

As than isn't a preposition, there is no grammatical justification for him, but virtually everybody uses it. (Sir Humphrey of course excepted!

)

CB

Regards · Answer

Hi,

I am taller than he. -- Very formal, not to say hypercorrect (it's like saying it is I—very stilted).

I am taller than he is. -- Commonly used in colloquial speech. Grammatically correct.

I am taller than him. -- Informal. Commonly used in colloquial speech. Incorrect grammar, in my opinion.

A more thorough explanation can be found here:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/than-I-versus-than-me.aspx

Regards

BillJ · Answer

The grammar is actually quite problematic. Certainly the accusative "him" is heard all the time and has to acceptable in informal style; but there are arguments in favour of nominative "he".

It all boils down to whether the complement of the preposition "than" is a reduced (elliptical) clause or an immediate complement.

1. In the reduced clause analysis, the complement to "than" is a clause reduced to the single element "he", as subject, so that the structure is like that of Joan eats faster than he eats. On this account, the nominative "he" is correct.

2. In the immediate complement analysis, it is simply a noun phrase - that it functions directly, immediately, as complement of "than". If this analysis is accepted, then the accusative "him" is correct: Joan eats faster than him.

In terms of syntactic analysis, the immediate complement alternant is obviously the simpler of the two. But the real question is which analysis is correct, not which is easier for people like me to analyse. Whether the pronoun "he" is properly analysed as a reduced clause is a question to which nobody has yet managed to come up with an unequivocal answer.

I think all we can conclude (rather feebly) is that accusative "him" is fully acceptable in informal style, and the nominative "he" should probably be used in formal style.

BillJ

comparitive tense object

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