You Are Better Than You Know
Than I or Than Me? Pronouns in Comparisons
Summary
Both I and me are grammatically correct in comparisons using than. "Than I" appears more often in formal contexts.
Example
- Acceptable: You lot are improve than me.
Formal: You lot are better than I am.
The reason both I and me work is that the give-and-take than can be treated as either a preposition or a conjunction. As a preposition, it takes pronouns in the objective case (similar me, her, and him). As a conjunction, than is followed by pronouns in the subjective instance (like I, he, and she).
Example
- Than as preposition: Poco is taller than me.
Than as conjunction: Poco is taller than I am.
"Than me" works best in simple comparisons. "Than I" can help introduce a new clause with additional information.
Example
- Correct: Lulu is younger than me.
Correct: Lulu is younger than I was when I got my start task.
I vs. me
The pronoun I is used in the position of subject in a sentence. Other subject pronouns include she, he, they, and we.
Examples
- I similar to fly.
subject (what or whom the sentence is about) = "I"
- She likes coffee.
- He has two left feet.
- We are on our ain at present.
- They are going to Mauritius tomorrow.
Me is an object pronoun: information technology serves as the object of a verb or a preposition. Other examples of object pronouns are her, him, them, and u.s.a..
Examples
- Anita called me this morning time.
object of the verb called = "me"
- Are you talking most me?
object of the preposition about = "me"
- These flowers are for her.
- I told him you weren't hither.
- Accept yous replied to them yet?
Whether to use I or me depends upon the grammatical function the discussion must serve in a judgement: that of bailiwick or object. In this article, we discuss whether "than I" or "than me" is correct— in other words, whether a subject or an object pronoun should exist used with than.
Than: Preposition or conjunction?
The word than tin human action either equally a preposition or as a conjunction. In both uses, it introduces the 2d element of a comparison.
Prepositions are words of relationship, like for, from, on, in, and near. As a preposition, the word than shows a relationship of comparison between two parts of a clause. Recall that the object of a preposition is an object pronoun like me, not a bailiwick pronoun like I. Therefore, than equally a preposition is followed past me rather than I.
Examples
- Lulu is funnier than me.
object of the preposition than = "me"
- I'g sure Rita can run faster than me.
When than is used as a conjunction, it connects two clauses. An object pronoun like me cannot serve as the subject of a clause. The subject pronoun I must be used instead.
Examples
- Lulu is a better comic than I always was.
This sentence has two clauses—"Lulu is a better comic" and "I ever was"—joined using the conjunction than.
- Rita can run faster than I can.
This tin can be shortened to "Rita tin can run faster than I."
As you lot can encounter, both "than I" and "than me" are grammatically correct. Which pronoun to use with than merely depends on whether you want to use the give-and-take every bit a preposition or a conjunction.
Than I vs. than me
"Than I" and "than me" are both grammatically acceptable. When to use which depends on whether you want to treat the word than equally a preposition or a conjunction. In a unproblematic comparison, "than" can easily be used as a preposition, which is why "than me" sounds natural.
Examples
- Anita is smarter than me.
- Tumkin is taller than me.
- Rita is more audacious than me.
Merely when you lot want to add another clause to the sentence, present more information, using than as a conjunction can be useful.
Examples
- Anita is smarter at present at the age of seven than I am as an adult.
- Tumkin is taller than I am in six-inch heels.
- Rita is more audacious than I always want to be.
Another consideration is that of formality: than is often treated as a conjunction in formal usage, which is why I sounds more formal than me in a comparison.
Example
- Acceptable: Anita is more qualified than me.
Formal: Anita is more qualified than I am.
Note that when than is used as a conjunction, it connects ii clauses. It is ameliorate manner to complete the clause than to omit the verb and leave the subject field pronoun hanging.
Example
- Poor: You clearly care about her more than than I.
Improve: Yous clearly care nigh her more I do.
Note
Grammar and style authorities, like Merriam-Webster and the Chicago Transmission of Fashion, concur that than can exist used both every bit preposition and conjunction. Its use as a conjunction ("than I") is seen more than often in writing and edited prose than in speech, where information technology is normally treated as a preposition ("than me").
Employ than every bit a conjunction when y'all want to nowadays new data, rather than in simple comparisons, where using than as a preposition suffices and sounds more natural. Consider the following examples.
Case
- Than equally preposition: My sister was younger than me.
A simple comparison: "than me" works fine.
Than as conjunction: My sister was younger than I am at present when she wrote this poem.The subordinate clause introduced by than presents boosted data.
Also note that in formal usage, than is more often than not used equally a conjunction.
Example
- Acceptable: Minerva is a better candidate than me.
Formal: Dr. Nuance is a improve candidate than I am.
Other subject field and object pronouns are used similarly as I and me with than. When than is used every bit a preposition, it takes pronouns like him, her, us, and them as the object. When it is used as a conjunction, the clause that follows has pronouns similar he, she, they, and we as its subject.
Examples
- Preposition: I am older than her.
Conjunction: I am older than she was when she wrote this book. - Preposition: I have earned more stars than him.
Conjunction: I accept earned more stars than he has. - Preposition: We know less than them.
Conjunction: We know less than they do near dinosaurs. - Preposition: They are simply luckier than u.s.a..
Conjunction: They are simply luckier than we are.
Differences in meaning
Sometimes, whether you utilise a subject pronoun similar I or an object pronoun like me with than tin can touch meaning.
Examples
- Meaning 1: She loves him more than than I.
or, She loves him more than than I love him.
Meaning 2: She loves him more than me.or, She loves him more than than she loves me.
- Meaning one: He has known her longer than I.
or, He has known her longer than I have.
Pregnant 2: He has known her longer than me.or, He has known her longer than he has known me.
If using than every bit a preposition ("than me") would cause confusion, use it as a conjunction instead ("than I"), writing out the complete comparative clause.
Examples
- Disruptive: Poco trusts her more than me.
Clear: Poco trusts her more than I practice.
Clear: Poco trusts her more than he trusts me. - Confusing: Nesbit likes video games more than me.
Clear: Nesbit likes video games more than than I practise.
Clear: Nesbit likes video games more than he likes me. - Confusing: Yous know her ameliorate than me.
Clear: You lot know her better than I exercise.
Clear: You know her better than you know me. - Confusing: Y'all await more like her than me.
Clear: You await more like her than I do.
Clear: You lot await more similar her than like me.
Examples from literature
Here are some examples from writing that evidence than used as a preposition: "than me." Notation how it sounds perfectly right and natural.
Examples
-
I helped wait afterwards the Thomas children—there were four of them younger than me—and I can tell you they took a lot of looking after.
-
She was just eighteen, 2 years older than me, and by far the well-nigh popular of all the young girls in Louisville.
-
When the leaders were older than me I could believe in their wisdom, I could believe they had transcended rage and malice and the need to be loved.
-
Yes, Raymond; he's two years older than me.
— Anne Tyler, Redhead by the Side of the Road (2020)
In contrast, in the following examples, than is used as a conjunction. Note how the writers complete the clause ("than I am," "than I was") rather than leaving it hanging at "than I."
Examples
-
'Maggie,' she said, in a low vox, that had the solemnity of confession in it, 'you are better than I am.'
-
'I don't suppose y'all are any more than surprised than I am myself,' said Marilla.
— Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (1908)
-
I would live out my days surrounded by people nicer than I am.
— Anne Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982)
-
She was a more charitable person than I was; I admired her in that, just I could not emulate her.
— Margaret Atwood, The Testaments (2019)
Apart from me, other object pronouns like him, her, them, and us are used with than as a preposition. Here are some examples from writing.
Examples
-
A stone is heavy and the sand is weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.
-
Nosotros cannot bear to believe that there might exist something more worthy of love than us, more worthy of worship.
And similar I, subject pronouns like he, she, they, and we are used with than when it is a conjunction.
Examples
-
Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life.
-
One day they will open a paper or a Spider web folio and read for themselves virtually the year—2050 or so, according to the prophets—when the fourth dimension volition run out. A twelvemonth when they volition be no older than we are now.
— Zadie Smith, "The Lazy River," New Yorker (2017)
Other words of comparison
Words like equally and similar also cause confusion. Like than, they also function both as prepositions and conjunctions.
Just like than, as is treated every bit a conjunction more often in formal writing and equally a preposition in general usage.
Examples
- Preposition: She is as old every bit me.
Object of the preposition equally: "me"
Conjunction: When she wrote this book, she was as onetime every bit I am at present.Subordinate clause introduced past than
- Preposition: We know every bit much as them.
Conjunction: We know every bit much as they ever will.
The discussion like is treated every bit a preposition in simple comparisons, simply every bit a conjunction when additional information needs to be presented.
Examples
- Preposition: She looks like me.
Conjunction: She looks similar I did when I wanted to get my own way. - Preposition: They are people similar us.
Conjunction: They are excited similar we were equally children.
Source: https://editorsmanual.com/articles/than-i-or-me/
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