I vs Me

Question

My friend said it was ok to say, "You are a better man than I."

She says she is a retired English teacher and the word "am" is understood at the end of the above sentence in italics.

I say it must be, "You are a better man than I am," or "you are a better man than me."

I know of no exceptions to those rules or anything about what is assumed or understood.

I did not bring my grammar text with me for the winter here in AZ. What do you say?

Thank you.
Stanley E. Rocklin, Ph.D. (psych)

can you send your answer to Email Removed ??
Thanks

Whl626 · Accepted Answer

Grammatically it is supposed to be " I ' rather than " me ". But " me " is universally accepted form.

Actually it is " I am " with the " am " omitted.

So

You are a better man than I am.
You are a better man than I.
You are a better man than me. are all correct, I think.

Buggah · Answer

'You are a better man than me' isn't standard English.

Suzi · Answer

Most people would say "you are a better man than me" or "she is a better swimmer than him" (not "than he"), so it seems to me the "rule" is fake.

I'm intrigued by the way prescriptive grammarians make up "pseudo" rules to justify their ideas, such as:

"and the word "am" is understood at the end of the above sentence in italics"

IS IT???? I agree you would use the subject case ( I ) if you WERE ending the phrase with a verb, but if you are NOT using the verb at teh end - it seems to me that it is a different construction and therefore can have a different rule!

Apart from in pronouns we have very little case system left in the language, so I can't really develop this idea.

I vs Me

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