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Marius Hancu Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
The rule outlawing "between you and I": not written until the 1860s!
| I didn't know when this rule banning "between you and I" emerged. Here it is: ----------- between you and I. “All debts are cleared between you and I,” writes Antonio to Bassanio in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Did Shakespeare commit a blunder, writing I where the objective form me is required? | 9 |
| When pronouns joined by a conjunction occur as the object of a preposition such as between, according to, or like, many people use the nominative form where the traditional grammatical rule would require the objective. They say between you and I rather than between you and me, and so forth. | 10 |
| Shakespeare can hardly have violated a rule of formal English grammar, since he and his contemporaries studied Latin grammar, not English. In fact, the rule outlawing between you and I did not get written until the 1860s. It has since become part of standard schoolroom grammar. Writing between you and I is now widely regarded as a sign of ignorance, even though the phrase occurs quite often in speech. So don’t feel bad if you catch yourself saying it. Just remember: if you want to avoid trouble, stick to between you and me in formal speech and writing. http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/052.html |
Top answer
between you and I . “All debts are cleared between you and I,” writes Antonio to Bassanio in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Did Shakespeare commit a blunder, writing I where the objective form me is required?
- between you and I .
- “All debts are cleared between you and I,” writes Antonio to Bassanio in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
- Did Shakespeare commit a blunder, writing I where the objective form me is required?
- Perhaps 'between you and I' was correct during Shakespeare's time.
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3 Answers
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between you and I. “All debts are cleared between you and I,” writes Antonio to Bassanio in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Did Shakespeare commit a blunder, writing I where the objective form me is required?
Perhaps 'between you and I' was correct during Shakespeare's time.
Perhaps 'between you and I' was correct during Shakespeare's time.
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Perhaps it was correct or perhaps Shakespeare did not consider himself bound by the rules as we are today.
This is part of a wider problem regarding "you and me". Where we say "me", (object of a verb or after a preposition) we also say "you and me". Where we say "I", (subject) we also say "you and I".
To many native-speakers this is not clear and there is a tendency to say "you and me" e
This is part of a wider problem regarding "you and me". Where we say "me", (object of a verb or after a preposition) we also say "you and me". Where we say "I", (subject) we also say "you and I".
To many native-speakers this is not clear and there is a tendency to say "you and me" e
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In Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote "and they shall hear and judge twixt you and me" (Act IV, Scene 5).
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