A audience writes

I understand you’ve got written with this issue prior to, but We begin to see the problem has arisen even yet in your message that is latest. You state “For those of you who, anything like me, hadn’t been aware of SI symbols, you’ll locate a list right here.”

“Like me personally. ” My husband and I also have already been arguing within the use of “me and/or I” daily. I might state “like me personally,” and he claims, “like I.” We have actually a sinking feeling he could be grammatically proper. Response please?

If only all grammar concerns had been as simple to respond to since this 1.

It is never ever, ever proper to express “like I.”

In Gentlemen want Blondes, Marilyn Monroe plays a blond bimbo (just what else?) certainly one of her conversational character tags is “like I?” When arrived on the scene in 1953, the viewers ended up being anticipated to laugh whenever she stated it.

“Like” is really a preposition. Prepositions ALWAYS simply take an object. The object form of “I” is “me.”

I’m sorry to discover that also someone thinks that “like I” is really a grammatical possibility in standard English.

The wrong utilization of “I” in compound things after the preposition “to” has been in existence for quite a while now. For instance: they certainly were extremely nice to Michelle and I also.

Placing another’s title at the pronoun will not change the fact that “to” is really a preposition a form that is object these were really friendly to Michelle and me personally.

that this use that is incorrect of after like does not result in the strides in popular message that it has after transitive verbs.

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34 reactions to “A Girl Like I”

• Gwen on 13, 2009 3:57 am july

“Like I” can too be utilized properly. As an example, that horrible track with similarly bad sentence structure should state “Don’t you wish your gf had been hot like we,” since the finished verb expression could be “…like i’m.”

Dan on July 13, 2009 5:04 am

The majority of the above article had been extremely enlightening, I’ve been enjoying these blog sites. The one thing i did son’t never understand: “It’s, ever proper to say “like I”. What exactly is grammatically incorrect about “For those of you whom don’t care like i really do…” or comparable?

Daran on July 13, 2009 6:42 am

“Like” is really a preposition.

Love can also be more successful as being a combination. “Like I” is thus defensible on the causes it is the main topic of a phrase whoever predicate is elided.

No body can dancing like he (does).

It appears horribly unidiomatic, however, in the event that verb is elided.

Brad K. on July 13, 2009 12:27 pm

Daran, oh, this is certainly evil. So you contend an implied “do” or “can” following the “like I”. *shudder*

Oh, that . . . no. You may rest content, yet we will . . in my situation and the house, http://privatelinesdating.com. uh, utilize “me” where appropriate from what is obviously *there*.

Michael Batey on July 13, 2009 2:01 pm

I’m uncertain it is ‘defensible’, Daran, nonetheless it can get a way to describing exactly how this arises after ‘like’ – the vague feeling that a verb must certanly be coming along at some time makes the item convulse into an interest.

The wider issue of ‘…and I’ is right down to hypercorrection: schoolchildren have had it drummed into them for such a long time that ‘Jonny and I’ went along to the store, maybe not ‘Jonny and me’, that ‘Dad took Jonny and us to your store’ sounds somehow incorrect towards the unenlightened. For people of us who wince every right time they hear this use, everday discussion are something of an effort.

Vic on July 13, 2009 2:28 pm

thought that with all the expressed word“like” there clearly was a suggested ending. Obviously, if you say “a woman like we,” the phrase “am” is implied. Then it would seem that “me” would be the correct word if it’s not implied. Imagine if we substituted the terms “similar to” for “like”? Then “a woman comparable to me personally.” Or would it not? This indicates rational considering that the term “to” produces a item as opposed to an interest. In “a woman like We,” which can be , and which can be ? It looks like “girl” is the item, therefore wouldn’t this make “me” the rational option as the item?

Chad on July 13, 2009 2:46 pm

Being an ESL instructor, I run into this example whenever we arrive at comparatives. Sentences with “like” are just like sentences with “than” and I also often explain that can be used the pronoun that is subect in the event that auxiliary verbs and modals are clearly included. Which means it is possible to state “She is taller than me” or “She is taller than we am” but “She is taller than I” is embarrassing and may be prevented. Within the instance provided when you look at the post, there are not any auxiliaries or modals following the pronoun that is demostrative,” making “like I” an impossibility.

Sally on July 13, 2009 2:46 pm

I had been thinking We comprehended this presssing problem, nevertheless now i am aware We don’t.

Although I’m a writer that is professional it comes a family members gift as opposed to my capability to comprehend the intricacies of this language. n’t determine the elements of message in a phrase even when somebody dangled a sum that is large of right in front of me personally.

That said, i usually believed that by the addition of another ‘obvious’ word that may come in the phrase, i really could ‘test’ whether the best word had been ‘me’ or’ I’.

Therefore for me personally, the test when it comes to sentence when you look at the reader’s question will be to include the phrase ‘am’, making the expression ‘like we (am)’, because you wouldn’t say ‘like me am’. My ‘test’ for the other instance is always to eradicate “Michelle’ through the phrase rendering it ‘They had been extremely friendly to ME’ (because I wouldn’t say ‘They had been very type to I’).

Really, now about it, I believe I may have learned that in school (U.S.) many years ago that I think. Hmm…..