GRAMMAR-2
Some time ago I posted an article which talked about common errors found in writing and speech. Others who read the post suggested that this might become a continuing subject with possible comments from other writers. Because of other commitments, I have not had the opportunity to pursue this further until now. The grammar books devote long chapters to uses of each part of speech, punctuation, etc., so anything written here is merely scratching the surface. But perhaps the following discussion will be of some help.
Especially of interest is the use of personal pronouns. In his weekly column on grammatical usage, James Kilpatrick frequently mentions that the old rules are softening and that some things formerly frowned on may be accepted now. However, there are particular errors which seem jarring to me. These are often found in the misuse of personal pronouns. According to the grammar books, the singular pronouns, I, you, he, she, it and the plural pronouns, we, you and they, are in the nominative case and are used as subjects. Pronouns in the objective case are the singular me, you, him, her, it and plural us, you, them. These are used as objects of verbs or prepositions. This is over-simplification, but it will perhaps be useful.
A very common misuse is the use of pronouns in the nominative case as objects. We sometimes find these errors in writing, but we probably hear them spoken most often. Frequently, on TV or in public speaking, or even from the pulpit, we hear expressions such as “Gifts were given to she and I.” Here the pronouns are objects of the preposition to, and in proper usage the sentence would say “Gifts were given to her and me.” There is a very simple test for choosing the correct word. If only one pronoun is left in the sentence, a speaker is not likely to say “A gift was given to she,” or “A gift was given to I.” A recent interesting exchange between a TV commentator and a listener was gratifying. The critic told the commentator that he should say “Tune in tonight for John and I,” rather than the correct “Tune in tonight for John and me.” The commentator explained why me was correct. We are reminded that he would not say “Tune in tonight for I.”
Other incorrect usage is found in sentences such as “Jane and I will go to the party since Mary invited she and I.” This can be tested again by trying “Mary invited she,” or “Mary invited I.” In this sentence the pronouns are objects of the verb invited. Though it may not seem to sound right, the sentence would read correctly “Jane and I will go the party since Mary invited her and me.”
When pronouns in the objective case are used as nominatives we have sentences such as “Her and me had a good time at the races.” Test again with only one pronoun.
The relative pronouns who and whom deserve some attention. Kilpatrick points out that the use of whom is on the wane except in formal writing. When written correctly, who is used in the nominative case and whom in the objective. An example of this, which may seem puzzling, is in the sentence “The prize will go to whoever makes the best score.” One would expect to use whomever as the object of the preposition to. However, in this sentence who is the subject of the clause “whoever makes the best score,” and who is correct in this case. An example of correct use of whom is found in the sentence, “We didn’t know to whom we should give the prize.”
I need to apologize for punctuation or form which should be done differently here. I used underlining and italics, but they do not show up in the posts. I don’t claim to have error-free posts! Please feel free to suggest corrections.
There is much that could be written about the use of the comma. This is something with which I have trouble. It’s rather tricky as some of the examples in the books appear to disagree, particularly in the use of quotations and titles. I have found excellent material on the internet on the use of the comma. Writers can find a wealth of information there. Just type in “Use of the Comma” in the Search box.
Perhaps some of you will wish to make comments about the above and will point out errors to be avoided.