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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
It was them or They were them
Hello,
Could you please help me with this? Thanks.
Jack: Who stole my car?
Jones: It was them.
1. Is it correct to use 'it' with 'them'?
2. Do you think I should have written 'They were them'?
3. If 'it' is correct, can I also say the contracted form "It's them" even if the question is in past tense? I often hear the contracted form, but I'm not sure if it's correct to use it in the example.
Could you please help me with this? Thanks.
Jack: Who stole my car?
Jones: It was them.
1. Is it correct to use 'it' with 'them'?
2. Do you think I should have written 'They were them'?
3. If 'it' is correct, can I also say the contracted form "It's them" even if the question is in past tense? I often hear the contracted form, but I'm not sure if it's correct to use it in the example.
Top answer
Jack: Who stole my car? Jones: It was them. 1.
- Jack: Who stole my car?
- Jones: It was them.
- 1.
- Is it correct to use 'it' with 'them'?
- Yes.
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3 Answers
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Jack: Who stole my car?
Jones: It was them.
1. Is it correct to use 'it' with 'them'?
Yes. It refers to "who" in the question.
2. Do you think I should have written 'They were them'?
No. You can say: "They did."
3. If 'it' is correct, can I also say the contracted form "It's them" even if the question is in p
Jones: It was them.
1. Is it correct to use 'it' with 'them'?
Yes. It refers to "who" in the question.
2. Do you think I should have written 'They were them'?
No. You can say: "They did."
3. If 'it' is correct, can I also say the contracted form "It's them" even if the question is in p
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1. In this case, yes.
2. No, that would be unnatural.
3. "It was them" cannot be contracted to "It's them". If you say "It's them" then you mean "It is them". While it's not impossible to imagine a native speaker answering "It's them", it is usually better to say "It was them" in order to match the tense of the question. Contrast:
-- "Who's (= who is) laughing at me?"
2. No, that would be unnatural.
3. "It was them" cannot be contracted to "It's them". If you say "It's them" then you mean "It is them". While it's not impossible to imagine a native speaker answering "It's them", it is usually better to say "It was them" in order to match the tense of the question. Contrast:
-- "Who's (= who is) laughing at me?"
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Thank you, AlpheccaStars and Mr Wordy. This makes perfect sense to me now.
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