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Oliwal Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Is it "she" or "her" that was in possession of an item?
Hi,
We are currently having a debate about this in the office and can't seem to come to a happy conclusion. Google search seems unclear too so thought you guys here might be able to resolve this for us.
Basically, is 'her' or 'she' correct in the below sentence;
"To our surprise it was *** that was in possession of the stolen papers."
Many thanks for your time and any replies.
Oli
We are currently having a debate about this in the office and can't seem to come to a happy conclusion. Google search seems unclear too so thought you guys here might be able to resolve this for us.
Basically, is 'her' or 'she' correct in the below sentence;
"To our surprise it was *** that was in possession of the stolen papers."
Many thanks for your time and any replies.
Oli
Top answer
Hello, oliwal—and welcome to English Forums. " Arguments are made for both: 'she' because it is a subject complement and 'her' because it is in predicative position. Both are in use, with 'she' being considered formally correct (or hyper-correct by descriptivists) and with 'her' considered informally correct (or substandard by prescriptivists).
- Hello, oliwal—and welcome to English Forums.
- " Arguments are made for both: 'she' because it is a subject complement and 'her' because it is in predicative position.
- Both are in use, with 'she' being considered formally correct (or hyper-correct by descriptivists) and with 'her' considered informally correct (or substandard by prescriptivists).
- When this arises, I myself recast: To our surprise, she was in possession of the stolen papers.
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3 Answers
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Hello, oliwal—and welcome to English Forums.
oliwalBasically, is 'her' or 'she' correct in the below sentence;"To our surprise it was *** that was in possession of the stolen papers."Arguments are made for both: 'she' because it is a subject complement and 'her' because it is in predicative position. Both are in use, with 'she' being considered formally correc
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There is no definitive answer to this question, oliwal, as Mr M explained. You and your office colleagues will have to agree to differ.
See also the Related forum topics above.
Rover
See also the Related forum topics above.
Rover
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