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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Him killed I!

Him killed I with my sword.

Is that correct? I read it in a book but it seems wrong to me.
  

Top answer

I would write I killed him with my sword.

— Yoong Liat

  • I would write I killed him with my sword.
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12 Answers
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I would write I killed him with my sword.
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AnonymousIs that correct? it seems wrong
It's not wrong. Normally in English sentences are ordered "Subject (S), Verb (V), Indirect Object (IO), Direct Object (DO)" but can run OSV, and, where pronouns are used in substitution of either the subject or object (e.g. your sentence) there are no word order constraints so OVS is possible. That said, such a c
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Huevos
AnonymousIs that correct? it seems wrong
It's not wrong. Normally in English sentences are ordered "Subject (S), Verb (V), Indirect Object (IO), Direct Object (DO)" but can run OSV, and, where pronouns are used in substitution of either the subject or object (e.g. your sentence) there are no word order constraints so OVS is
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It sounds rather like Shakespeare to me.
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PhilipIt sounds rather like Shakespeare to me.

I agree. It's definitely not modern English.
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AnonymousHim killed I with my sword.

I read it in a book
Could you let us in on the book, author and date? Is it a translation? - a poem? - a reply to a question? I'd hate to hang this one on Shakespeare.
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If the word 'him' is fronted for emphasis, it seems to me the most common modern word order would be "Him I killed with my sword."
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YankeeIf the word 'him' is fronted for emphasis, it seems to me the most common modern word order would be "Him I killed with my sword."

In total agreement.
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Yankee"Him I killed with my sword."
That's OSV which is pretty common but OVS as quoted by the original poster is still widely used.
Down the street came a girl and a dog, rather a small girl and quite a behemothian dog. [Down it came they.] (
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Many thanks, Huevos. I stand enlightened.
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