I looking for a native english speaker?!

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Schuyler
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Muttersprache: English (US)
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Re: I looking for a native english speaker?!

Beitrag von Schuyler »

I would argue that the use of the accusative case with the verb to be (and other phrases like me, too, although not with questions like who is he?, where am I?, etc.) is entirely correct, even though grammatically it may sound weird and wrong, particularly to non-native speakers. Like PitaBread said, languages are constantly evolving, and I feel like it is me/him/them/her has long since gotten to the point where it is not a mistake at all, but rather an accepted, even preferred exception to the rules. I don't know how or when this habit originated, but I compare it to those old, established phrases that don't always follow standard grammar rules, either, such as long time no see.

I'm speaking as someone who is very much an obsessive grammar police and who freaks out at mistakes as minor as a missing comma. Anyone who knows me can confirm that, I'm sure. :rolleyes: Generally, the only times you will ever hear a native speaker say "It is I" nowadays are when you're talking to some (but not all) grammar buffs or you are in a very formal situation, and even then, I think most people still say "me."

Using pronouns in the accusative case as the subject with other verbs, though, like in the sentence "John and me went to the store," is still considered incorrect and should be avoided, even though native speakers often speak like that in casual speech. If you want to sound like an educated person, you should say, "John ('He') and I went to the store."
American • she/they • sie/ihr
EN (L1) • DE (B2?) • PL (A1)




tiorthan
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Re: I looking for a native english speaker?!

Beitrag von tiorthan »

Schuyler hat geschrieben:I would argue that the use of the accusative case with the verb to be (and other phrases like me, too, although not with questions like who is he?, where am I?, etc.) is entirely correct, even though grammatically it may sound weird and wrong, particularly to non-native speakers.
I would go even further and say that it is perfectly grammatical and regular and all the grammar books that say otherwise are out of whack.

The view that English has an accusative case or, as more modern books would have it, an object case is completely outdated. Teaching it to language learners now is the equivalent of teaching thee and thou as the second person singular pronoun.

If one changes their perspective ever so slightly from "me" being the object case of "I" to a non-subject case all perceived irregularities will go away.

Me, too - completely regular because this is not even a complete clause and thus has no subject.
It's me - regular because "It" is the subject of this clause and "me" is part of the predicate.

In my experience, new developments in a language are never irregular, we just have wrong and outdated explanations and it's the old things that are irregular.
You're never too old to learn something stupid.
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Schuyler
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Re: I looking for a native english speaker?!

Beitrag von Schuyler »

Hmm, that's interesting! I have never heard it explained that way before, but it's true that looking at "me" as a non-subject case makes a lot of sense. Of course, we don't really learn much at all about English grammar in school, unless you choose to take a specialized course, but whenever my teachers did explain pronouns and sentence structure, it was always done in terms of nominative and accusative cases, which then contributes to the view that "It is me" is either improper English or a grammatical irregularity.
American • she/they • sie/ihr
EN (L1) • DE (B2?) • PL (A1)

felipesoto05
Bilingual Newbie
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Registriert: 26. Mär 2018 20:01
Muttersprache: Spanisch, German

Re: I looking for a native english speaker?!

Beitrag von felipesoto05 »

Hi everyone! My name is Felipe, I am a colombian guy living in Germany since 4 years. I would like to improve more my english through skype conversations. I am in an intermediate level. I can help you with your spanish or your german if you want. If someone is interested just send me your Skype-ID in a message! 

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