What are your pet peeves re English usage?

Val,
....He is used as as a subject just like You. One can say he would like to check it out, but not, him would..etc.,etc.. him is a direct object. So there! (Imagine me with my arms crossed and a smug look on my face Twisted Evil

)

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Smug looks are fun, booman, but I think they don't always relate to being correct. In my opinion you would most properly use the objective case in that circumstance and so "him" is correct, not "he".

For example, wouldn't you say "I saw him hit the ball!"?* And that, even though "He hit the ball!" would be the correct way to describe the act itself.

*I hope you've just nodded "yes."

The rule for direct objects goes:
If the object is a pronoun capable of exhibiting case distinction, the case should be objective.

from: http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/GramObj.html

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booman2 wrote:

Val,
....He is used as as a subject just like You. One can say he would like to check it out, but not, him would..etc.,etc.. him is a direct object. So there! (Imagine me with my arms crossed and a smug look on my face )

From http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_verbals.html

Quote:

They asked me to bring some food.
The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of the verb asked.
-me (actor or "subject" of infinitive phrase)
-to bring (infinitive)
-some food (direct object of action expressed in infinitive)

Everyone wanted Carol to be the captain of the team.
The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of the verb wanted.
-Carol (actor or "subject" of infinitive phrase)
-to be (infinitive)
-the captain (subject complement for Carol, via state of being expressed in infinitive)
of the team (prepositional phrase as adjective)

Actors: In these...two examples the actor of the infinitive phrase could be roughly characterized as the "subject" of the action or state expressed in the infinitive. It is somewhat misleading to use the word subject, however, since an infinitive phrase is not a full clause with a subject and a finite verb. Also notice that when it is a pronoun, the actor appears in the objective case (me, not I, in the [first] example).

I think the first example is the rule that applies, hence "him."

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Pet peeve re English usage: smug looks.

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Piffka is correct. The third person singular here is in the objective case. 'Him' not 'he.' So there. nyahh-nyahh-nyahh <accompanied by a smug look, or a stuck-out tongue, or a finger gesture or something, anyway>.

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Okay fellas'
.....Far be it from me to argue with so msny apparently learned gentlemen.
So, I'll just restate the sentence, using him...oh.... and just to show with clarity, wht I've learned from you learned gentleman I'll leave out one of the subjects. "I think that him would like to check it out."... Okay guys?

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If I can ever master the use of the English language, there wouldn't be a need for pet peeves. Wink

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CI,
.....I was just noticing your signature. Ponder this if you will. What if all the people That had passed on in your life, that caused you to wish they hadn't, were still living. Depending on how old you are, wouldn't things be pretty crowded?...Think about that a while....

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Piffka wrote:

Hi SeattleFrettchen. (I'm from south Puget Sound... that's why I asked.) Pepper is cute one. Did you take the photograph through glass? I like the iridescence.

I think you are correct about the apostrophe alone for words ending in 's' but as for the 1970's vs 1970s... I honestly don't know.

This authority says differently:

http://www.colorado.edu/Publications/styleguide/punctuation.html

Maybe someone else will weigh in with their thoughts.

I haven't looked further in the thread than this post of piffka's, so forebear if this has been hassled about for three more pages, but -

my qualm about pm's, or, as the case may be, PMs, was borne out in piff's link.

I am entirely for more and correct use of apostrophes over time, at the same time I battle heinous mistakes from my own lower brain stem if I don't catch them after my fast typing. I do mean lower brain stem: the mistakes will be some I never would have made in beginning elementary school. I think there must be a secret brain foible compartment along my brain network (rete) that I never knew about before I participated in a forum such as this.

Er, I forgot to say why my point was borne out. The link made room for use of the apostrophe in case of confusion, and I think pms and pms are confusing, eh?

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Merry Andrew wrote:

Robert Benchley is supposed to have sent this wire to his boss at The New Yorker when Benchley arrived in Venice, Italy, on assignment:

arrived venice. all streets flooded. please advise.

Yes, I have seen that a few times, love it.

Apologia pro vita behind in posts.

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MA,Pifka,Val,
.....Don't leave a brother hangin' here. Smile

Did I satisfy you guys with my contrition, and rewording of the sentence? I'd like to know if 'se done did well y'all.

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Booman, Ya can't take everything in a literal sense; it's a rhetorical statement that only suggests that life only seems that way. As a basis of fact, we all know it ain't true. Wink

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Oh yeah, but it's just something I had never thought about until baout a year ago. and when we say those things we mean it, because we're talking about someone we love, or a public figure we really admire.

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Roberta's thread here seems apropo (well, that one and many others):
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=517316#517316

I miss her presence on the boards and her fine editing hand, but know she is busy editing...

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I'm not sure about her position on possesive nouns. I've see it done without the s far toomany times by creditable sourses. (i.e. The Jones' car) But I must admit, she sounds so authoritative and confident, I want to believe her. Smile

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Booman wrote:

Okay fellas'
.....Far be it from me to argue with so msny apparently learned gentlemen.
So, I'll just restate the sentence, using him...oh.... and just to show with clarity, wht I've learned from you learned gentleman I'll leave out one of the subjects.

I am trying to quit smarting from being called a gentleman... I'm trying to 'magine it was meant as a compliment. Cool

As for this:

Quote:

"I think that him would like to check it out."... Okay guys?

No. This sentence is made up of two clauses. "I think" is the first, "that" introduces the second clause (a relative main clause) "he would like to check it out." Both clauses could also be individual sentences, but the second clause relates to the first, defining what is thought.

The rule is expressed here:
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/GramClaus.html

Quote:

A clause by definition does involve predication --that is, it includes a subject and a predicate.

Here's a sentence for you:

I think I see him checking her out.

I think = first clause

I see him checking her out. = second clause made up of the subject, I see, and the object of what is seen, "him checking her out."

Both "him" and "her" are put into the objective case.

Very Happy

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Pifka,
.....We're having such a fun gentlemanly debate. I'm afraid mwe all will be accused of being gentlemen. Anyhow, I want you to focus now... All I'm saying is, I thought he was correct, but learned Gentleman, voted me down. You insisted,that I should use him. Okay...I conceded.. I not only changed it, but took the you, off the table so you could see your "him" in all it's glory. So why aren't you satisfied? Please keep it simple, I am but a humble high school drop out.

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Hmmm.....something is wrong here. I was voted down by MA,Pifka,& Val. I conceded defeat...I corrected my sentence...and yet no comment...No lucid comment at any rate...unless...unless.... Idea

SIRS!<SIRS
...PERMISSION TO RECROSS ARMS, AND DON MY SMUG LOOK?..HUH,HUH?

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And I haven't paid attention to the last...

but booman, I want to welcome you back, I remember liking your posts as booman (1).

On Roberta, she spent years as a top editor in New York. It is possible she'll be wrong sometime (me, rolling eyes in wonder and doubt) but more often she'll distinguish usage. For example, when I last paid attention she roughly put the serial comma question into categories re point of view - as newspapers and textbooks - in the US - differed at that date.

But all of us can err and language is fluid. Vive la pizza!

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Never mind english, which I am lazily ok at when I try, due to a lucky set of nuns in a few grammar school grades. I am a total fool in italian.

Look for the fallacy - in fact I am sometimes a fool in English too, but my previous paragraph tries to psych you out of noticing that....

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What are your pet peeves re English usage?

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