Pronouns

Question

Hello teachersPlease explain whether it should to consider a take subject or object form for pronouns. I don't want anybody but SHE/HER working on this project Here i think 'BUT' is a conjunction and hence SHE should be used here . But since 'Working' is a gerund here it should be possesive HER nt SHE. Which should i take ????We scored as many goals as THEY/THEM .here as many as is a preposition and hence it should be THEM because a pronoun after preposition takes an accusative form , but i know many of you would argue it's incorrect as we should complete the sentence to check which pronoun should be used . Well in this case i get THEY as pronoun because when i complete it i get We scored as many goals  as THEY scoredNobody but HIM/HE was present.here 'BUT' is a conjunction as it takes a verb after it and hence it should be HE not HIMRahul is as old as I/ME.here i should complete the sentence and i get Rahul is as old as I ambut grammarians argue that it's a preposition an hence it should take accusative form i.e MEPlease elaborate more on this Regards

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

I don't want anybody but HER working on this projec. 'I don't want...her'. The pronoun as parallel to verb object.

We scored as many goals as THEY/THEM .-- 'As many as' is not a preposition, but both are acceptable, with 'they' even considered hypercorrect by some now.

Nobody but HIM/HE was present.-- 'But' is also a preposition, and the case of this pronoun can be interpreted either way.

Here is the Random House usage note:

"When 'but' is understood as a conjunction and the pronoun following it is understood as the subject of an incompletely expressed clause, the pronoun is in the subjective case: 'Everyone lost faith in the plan but she (did not lose faith)'. In virtually identical contexts, when 'but' is understood as a preposition, the pronoun following it is in the objective case: 'Everyone lost faith but her'. The prepositional use is more common. However, when prepositional 'but' and its following pronoun occur near the beginning of a sentence, the subjective case often appears: 'Everyone but she lost faith in the plan'.

Rahul is as old as I/ME.-- As with your other 'as...as' example, it depends on the grammarian. Some find 'me' to casual, while others find 'I' hyperformal.

Rahul2689 · Answer

Thank you

Can you please elaborate more on 'BUT' as a preposition and as a conjunction

Mister Micawber

Nobody but HIM/HE was present.-- 'But' is also a preposition, and the case of this pronoun can be interpreted either way.

Here which one should we choose . My book gives HIM as the answero

Whether i should complete the sentence to identify pronoun or take preposition/conjunction case??

Regards

Mister Micawber · Answer

I can give you no more useful information than the usage note from Random House that I have already given you.  Did you read that through?  If so, what part did you not understand?

Rahul2689 · Answer

Hello sir

The sentence which you mentioned

Everyone lost faith but SHE(did not lose faith)

Everyone lost faith but HER

Here i didnt get which one to use .

How do i come to know if the word is conjunction or preposition.

Should i complete the sentence like We scored as many as goals as They (scored) or should i check if the word is a preposition or a conjunction to see which case should be applied

Can we sing as well as THEY/THEM (my book gives the answer as THEM)

You know that as well as I/ME (answer given ME)

We are not as rich as THEY/THEM (answer given THEM)

Book : Wren and Martin

What should I conclude???

Regards

Thank you for helping a lot

Mister Micawber · Answer

Use the object pronoun (him, them) in daily writing; use the subject pronoun (he, they) in very formal writing.

Pronouns

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