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Virginiajean Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
What's the proper pronoun for this?
To be (he/him) is to be like a raging bull, unafraid to fight for what he believes in.
Do you use "he" or "him"?
It sounds that him is more practical, but then the verb-be infinitive is somehow urging me to use the subjective form of the pronoun, "he", just as how a subjective complement requires a subjective form of the pronoun.
these are the conclusions I've come up with:
action verb infinitive:
to love him (objective pronoun--object of the transitive-verbal)
to love unconditionally (adverb--modifier of the transitive-verbal )
verb-be infinitive:
to be (he OR him)? (complement of the be-verb verbal)
to be unconditional... (adjective--modifier of the be-verb verbal)
so what would be proper, to be he? or to be him?
Do you use "he" or "him"?
It sounds that him is more practical, but then the verb-be infinitive is somehow urging me to use the subjective form of the pronoun, "he", just as how a subjective complement requires a subjective form of the pronoun.
these are the conclusions I've come up with:
action verb infinitive:
to love him (objective pronoun--object of the transitive-verbal)
to love unconditionally (adverb--modifier of the transitive-verbal )
verb-be infinitive:
to be (he OR him)? (complement of the be-verb verbal)
to be unconditional... (adjective--modifier of the be-verb verbal)
so what would be proper, to be he? or to be him?
Top answer
To be him is to be like a raging bull, unafraid to fight for what he believes in. The implied subject of the infinitive (to be) is different from the object. )
- To be him is to be like a raging bull, unafraid to fight for what he believes in.
- The implied subject of the infinitive (to be) is different from the object.
- )
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4 Answers
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To be him is to be like a raging bull, unafraid to fight for what he believes in.
The implied subject of the infinitive (to be) is different from the object. Someone is "being" -- becoming or acting like --- someone else (him.)
So "be" is not functioning as a copula (linking verb.)
The implied subject of the infinitive (to be) is different from the object. Someone is "being" -- becoming or acting like --- someone else (him.)
So "be" is not functioning as a copula (linking verb.)
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Even when be is linking, the object-case form is fine after the linking verb.
CJ
CJ
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AlpheccaStars, for some reason, I cannot-if say for instance I am next to the person I will be referring to-feel right using the objective pronoun "him" as I stretch my arm out and refer to that person. It seems "he" carries more high respects. I don't know. But could you explain further why "him" should represent the pronoun?
Thanks a lot.
Thanks a lot.
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Virginiajeant seems "he" carries more high respects.No, it doesn't. In your sentence, "he" is incorrect.
Here is a general reference on subject versus object cases of pronouns.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cases.htm
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