I understand the normal rules for "I" and "Me" in sentences, but I simply cannot figure out the answer to this example.
What I want to say is that my dad and I are regional truckers (or me and my dad are regional truckers). If I stay true to the "I" vs."Me" formula I learned in school and eliminate the objective pronoun, the simplified version of the sentence can be written as either "I are regional truckers" or "me are regional truckers", and both of these look atrocious written down. I'm not a seasoned grammarian, but even I know that neither one of these seems to be the correct answer. Am I missing something?
posted by Buddy-Rey
on Jul 31, 2009 -
22 answers
I want to ask several questions in a row in a research proposal. What is the grammatically correct way of doing this?
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posted by hiteleven
on Jul 23, 2009 -
15 answers
LanguageFilter: How can a native English speaker develop a better sense of grammatical cases?
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posted by mary8nne
on Jul 22, 2009 -
16 answers
In
Return of the King, Aragorn says: "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me." What precisely does he mean by this? My confusion is with the phrase "take the heart of me." Is this a standard idiom?
posted by Busoni
on Jul 15, 2009 -
15 answers
Genuinely dumb question to waste on the brain trust here but: when nouns end in x, do you indicate possession with just a quotation mark or do you need to include the s?
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posted by christhelongtimelurker
on Jul 13, 2009 -
23 answers
WordMacroFilter: So my new boss is great but he has some crazy grammar and wordsmithing quirks. I received a list (no joke) of the edits he wants to see of documents that come to his desk (use affect instead of impact, effect instead of impacts, etc). I'd like to create a Microsoft Word Macro that will automate the task.
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posted by roundrock
on May 19, 2009 -
7 answers
Grammarfilter. The question: "Haven't you been to Italy?" The answer: I've been to Italy. Is the correct response yes or no?
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posted by ohcanireally
on May 11, 2009 -
27 answers
GrammarFilter: A co-worker regularly uses the phrase "to include" in sentences such as: "Max has achieved the goals, to include such-and-such." I suspect "including" should be used instead of "to include," since "to include" implies future tense but the verb is past tense. Am I right? If so, can anyone find a link that explains this? (Google results tended us use the phrase "to include" in their text, not as their content.)
posted by quinoa
on May 7, 2009 -
8 answers
Help settle a grammar dispute: Can I say "He was to Africa," the same way I would say "He has been to Africa"?
posted by alona
on May 1, 2009 -
61 answers
In David Foster Wallace's
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again he uses the word "which" in a way that I found unusual - a usage that is described under heading three
here. I think I'm fairly well read, but I can't remember ever having seen this before. I've been having (what I think are) migraines lately and I'm curious if I'm becoming linguistically befuddled, or if this is just an obscure or archaic usage. Examples after the jump.
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posted by phrontist
on Apr 20, 2009 -
28 answers
John Locke wrote "one may destroy a man who makes war upon him." I understand that in this sentence "one" and "him" are the same person, and "man" and "who" are a separate person. In the most basic sense, this sentence justifies fighting against people who war with you.
But I have read sentences before - often in poetry - where cases are switched. If the above sentence were such an example, then "one" and "who" would be a person, and "man" and "him" would be the other person. In this case, the sentence would suggest that one runs the risk of destroying someone if they make war against that someone.
What are some examples of such sentences?
posted by nushustu
on Apr 6, 2009 -
8 answers
I'm putting together a writing guide for my undergraduate philosophy course. What information should I put in the guide?
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posted by philosophygeek
on Apr 1, 2009 -
14 answers
I'm kicking around a concept for a theoretical piece I hope to work on in the near future, dealing with the way "femininity" and the "female" category are conceived of linguistically. Help me find some empirical data!
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posted by parkbench
on Mar 24, 2009 -
24 answers
Good examples of intercultural communications based on ideograms or common concepts?
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posted by Bio11
on Feb 22, 2009 -
13 answers
Looking for online grammar exercises, games, etc. that would enable me to do a few exercises here and there throughout the day.
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posted by variella
on Feb 10, 2009 -
9 answers
When should I use "instructive" and when should I use "instructional"?
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posted by gmm
on Jan 21, 2009 -
7 answers
Looking for examples in literature where the author had to rely on his/her editor rather heavily. I'm thinking of instances where the authors were capable of spinning a good yarn, yet they had trouble with grammar, structure, punctuation, etc.
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posted by captainsohler
on Dec 29, 2008 -
23 answers
I need help with a pronoun issue. In the following sentences, what noun is the word
it replacing?
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posted by amyms
on Dec 5, 2008 -
11 answers
When I was in high school, we had a writing lab with some type of mainframe-ish type terminals setup, where there was writing software available which would list frequently repeated words, point out large paragraphs, spelling errors, document complexity, punctuation errors, etc. This was awhile ago, is this type of thing freely available anywhere these days?
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posted by ceberon
on Nov 26, 2008 -
5 answers
In a sentence such as "When I was younger, I would swim a mile before going to work every day," what grammatical tense is in play?
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posted by woodblock100
on Nov 18, 2008 -
14 answers
I am married to a wonderful (black) man who sometimes has terrible grammar (sliding into ebonics). Should I continue to correct him, even though technically, he knows the proper way to say things or should I stop nagging because it will never work?
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posted by Grlnxtdr
on Nov 10, 2008 -
98 answers
I've noticed the New York Times is now using "Miss", or Ms., as the accepted honorific for a women both married and unmarried. Is this MLA, or is the New York Times in the vanguard? Is Mrs. dead?
posted by plexi
on Nov 3, 2008 -
12 answers
Extra! Extra! The verb "to be" missing from TV newscasts!
Anchors and TV reporters omitting "to be," often favor using participles instead.
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posted by HotPatatta
on Oct 12, 2008 -
16 answers
In French, the singular of eye is "oiel" and the plural is "yeux." Are there any nouns in English that have completely different spellings of the singular and plural like this?
posted by Crosius
on Sep 26, 2008 -
27 answers
Is there a rule as to how many ...'s are supposed to be placed at the end of a sentence which is to be continued?
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posted by gman
on Sep 23, 2008 -
21 answers
Footnote experts/writers: Please help me decide the best way to use footnotes in my document.
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posted by Badmichelle
on Sep 17, 2008 -
6 answers
You have a murder of crows, sleuth of bears, even an exaltation of larks, what about Fairies?
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posted by jrishel
on Sep 10, 2008 -
53 answers
I am a composer looking to score a piece for orchestra and Soprano Voice. I wrote it in English, and after a bit of reading attempted to translate it into latin using a dictionary and grammar book. It's not gonna be perfect, but I gave it an honest attempt, and hope the metafilter community can help me to streamline it and help me with some grammer isses I don't understand (ie.ablative or accusitive). thanks much! (by the way, the meter is 4/4 and a slow tempo,flowing legato melody, but once I have a working translation I'll make it fit)
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posted by FireStyle
on Sep 4, 2008 -
3 answers
German grammar check: free online tools or Mac freeware/shareware? I have fairly solid German; goal is polishing drafts I'm writing in German, not translating from scratch. Seeking best stopgaps for when I can't afford or barter for a human's time. (And I don't have an MS Office CD with German tools.)
posted by kalapierson
on Jul 28, 2008 -
2 answers
English grammar filter: can a common noun act as a proper noun if the thing being referred to exists within a shared context? Please help to settle a dispute between my girlfriend and I.
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posted by ellF
on Jun 6, 2008 -
29 answers
Which expression is correct when describing grammatical mistakes: "bad grammar" or "poor grammar?"
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posted by rinosaur
on May 30, 2008 -
7 answers
How do you pronounce the word 'read' when used in the following context? -- 'John is dry (read: boring).'
/rɛd/ or /rid/
Thanks!
posted by gman
on May 29, 2008 -
122 answers
On a recent trip to Kenya, we visited a school who is in need of simple French language instruction booklets for elementary-age children.
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posted by vanoakenfold
on May 23, 2008 -
3 answers
