Than I or Me?

Taller than I / me ??

When making a comparison with "than" do we end with a subject form or object form, "taller than I/she" or "taller than me/her." The correct response is "taller than I/she." We are looking for the subject form: "He is taller than I am/she is tall." (Except we leave out the verb in the second clause, "am" or "is.") 

Some good writers, however, will argue that the word "than" should be allowed to function as a preposition. If we can say "He is tall like me/her," then (if "than" could be prepositional like like) we should be able to say, "He is taller than me/her." It's an interesting argument, but — for now, anyway — in formal, academic prose, use the subject form in such comparisons.

We also want to be careful in a sentence such as "I like him better than she/her." The "she" would mean that you like this person better than she likes him; the "her" would mean that you like this male person better than you like that female person. (To avoid ambiguity and the slippery use of than, we could write "I like him better than she does" or "I like him better than I like her.")

The Subjunctive

Because speakers of modern English seldom use the subjunctive mood, the Old English subjunctive is difficult for us to get used to. We do still use it when stating conditions contrary to fact, as in:

If I were a carpenter,
and you were a lady,
would you marry me anyway?

Here the subjunctive were (the indicative would be was) suggests that the speaker is not in fact a carpenter.

We also use the subjunctive in noun clauses following verbs of desiring, commanding, suggesting, and so on. For example:

The king commanded that the knight go on a quest.

The king desired that the knight go on a quest.

I suggest that you be a little quieter.

I move that the bypass be routed east of town.

I wish that he were wiser.

Here the subjunctives tell us that the condition described in the noun clause is not a present reality or a future certainty, but a possibility mediated by someone's desire.

Some of these usages are disappearing: the first two examples above sound a little archaic, and it would now be more idiomatic to say "The king commanded the knight to go on a quest" and "The king wanted the knight to go on a quest," using an infinitive construction rather than a subjunctive.

Aside from these common usages, the subjunctive now appears mainly in fixed or formulaic expressions, for example, "come what may," "thanks be to God."

The good news from Old English is that verbs in the subjunctive mood are not marked for person, so you don't have a complete new paradigm to learn. The bad news is that the subjunctive is far more common in Old English than in modern English, and you must get used to seeing it in environments where you do not expect it.

When to Use GERUNDS

It is correct to use “Looking forward to meeting you soon” because the -ing verb (“meeting”) there is a gerund and functions as a noun. “Looking forward to meeting you ...” can be replaced with “Looking forward to our meeting ...” where the word “meeting” is a noun.

Another example of this usage can be seen in this sentence: “I’m not used to sleeping late” which can be replaced with “I’m not used to late nights.” In this sort of structure, “to” is a preposition and not an infinitive marker, as in “I would like to meet you soon” OR “I do not like to sleep late.”

An “-ing” is placed after the verb to make the present participle of the verb, which is used in the continuous/progressive forms of the verb, e.g. “I am eating”, “I was eating”, “I shall be eating”, etc. The present participle can also function as an adjective, as in “Managing Director”, “running commentary”, “a boring film”, “an exciting match”, etc. The only instances when we can use the “to ...ing” structure is when the “-ing” form is a gerund.

WHO and WHOM

“Whom” is the object form of “who”. We can see this in relative clauses, for example:

1. “The person who owns this book would like it back.” In this sentence, “who” is the subject of the relative clause “who owns this book”.

2. “The boy whom they beat up has made a police report.” In this sentence, “whom” is the object of the defining relative clause “whom they beat up”. The subject of that clause is “they”. However, in this sort of sentence, it is possible to use “who” or “that” instead of “whom”, or leave out “whom” altogether:

“The boy (who/that) they beat up has made a police report.”

3. “Her aunt, whom she loves very much, is in hospital.” In this sentence, “whom” is the object in the non-defining relative clause “whom she loves very much”. In less formal usage, “who” can be used instead of “whom”: “Her aunt, who she loves very much, is in hospital”.

In modern English, “whom” is considered very formal. One common use of “whom” is in the expression used in a reference or testimonial written for a scholarship applicant or job-seeker, i.e. “To Whom It May Concern”. But in questions, “who” is more often used, e.g. “Who did you give the book to?” instead of “To whom did you give the book?”

Take a Break

Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

2) We must polish the Polish furniture.

3) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

4) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

5) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

6) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

7) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

8) I did not object to the object.

9) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

10) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

11) They were too close to the door to close it.

12) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

13) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

14) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

15) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

16) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

17) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

18) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

19) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

:)

‘Always’ and ‘never’ with past tense verbs

“Always” and “never” can be used with a simple past tense verb, although they are more often used with verbs in the perfect tenses, the simple present tense or simple future tense.

Here are some examples of the use of these two adverbs with simple past tense verbs:

• “Ellie was always very good at art.” (example in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 2005)
• “I always thought I’d have children eventually.” (example in online Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
• “In those years we always did well against them in one-on-one games.”
• “He never went to university.” (Collins Cobuild English Grammar)
• “I never did that again,” he said.
• “He never did his homework in primary school, but always did well in exams.”

Adverbs of Frequency (Always, Often, Sometimes, Never, etc.)

There was a confusion about this part of speech recently, so I'm sharing this information (from esl.about.com & english-zone.com). Hope it's helpful...

Use adverbs of frequency to say how often you do something. Adverbs of frequency are often used with the present simple because they indicate repeated or routine activities. For example, They often go out for dinner.

Adverbs of frequency include (from most often to least often):

always
usually
often
sometimes
occasionally
seldom
rarely
never

If the sentence has one verb (e.g. no auxiliary verb) put the adverb in the middle of the sentence after the subject and before the verb.

Examples

Tom usually goes to work by car.
Janet never flies. She always goes by bus.

Adverbs of frequency come after the verb 'be':

Examples

I am never late for work.
Peter is often at school.

If the sentence has more than one verb (e.g. auxiliary verb), put the adverb of frequency before the main verb.

Examples

I can never remember anything!
They have often visited Rome.

When using adverbs of frequency in the question or negative form, put the adverb of frequency before the main verb.

Examples

She doesn't often visit Europe.
Do you usually get up early?

Note: Adverbs of frequency is also known as Frequency Adverbs

Frequency Adverbs - ALWAYS / USUALLY / OFTEN, etc.

Other Verbs (play, do, study, work, etc.)	Frequency Adverbs come BEFORE other verbs.
	I always help the other students. My brother usually comes late to school. Jenny and Susan often study in the library after class.
BE Verb (am, is, are, was, were, etc.)	Frequency Adverbs come AFTER a BE verb.
	I am always a good student. My brother is usually late to school. Jenny and Susan are often in the library after class.