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It's a question of grammar

  • Splinter
  • April 17, 2018 at 8:48 AM

There are 19 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 4,603 times. The latest Post (January 18, 2024 at 8:56 AM) was by Splinter.

1st Official Post
  • Splinter
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    • April 17, 2018 at 8:48 AM
    • Official Post
    • #1

    Some common mistakes that many of us make when writing (not just in novels).

    I or Me?

    A) Gloria took a photo of David and me.

    B) Gloria took a photo of David and I.

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

    • Next Official Post
  • EJLarson
    Posts
    754
    • April 17, 2018 at 2:01 PM
    • #2

    Hope I’m not spoiling this, but the way I learned to resolve issues like this is to recast the sentence with a single subject:

    Quote from Splinter

    Some common mistakes that many of us make when writing (not just in novels).

    .

    I or Me?.

    A) Gloria took a photo of David and me.

    B) Gloria took a photo of David and I.

    Gloria took a photo of ... ? Me!

    So the correct answer is A).

  • Splinter
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    • April 17, 2018 at 4:11 PM
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    • #3

    I confess to saying "My brother and I" when I was younger.

    How about The King And I?

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

    • Previous Official Post
    • Next Official Post
  • EJLarson
    Posts
    754
    • April 17, 2018 at 4:32 PM
    • #4
    Quote from Splinter

    I confess to saying "My brother and I" when I was younger.

    How about The King And I?

    Tricky! Depends on subject or object:

    She took a picture of The King and Me.

    The King and I took a walk.

  • Online
    Rice
    Posts
    15,442
    • April 18, 2018 at 10:04 AM
    • #5
    Quote from EJLarson

    She took a picture of The King and Me.

    -- unless she was at the cinema for a return of the Yul Brenner classic and was moved to photograph it. In that case,

    She took a picture of "The King and I."

  • EJLarson
    Posts
    754
    • April 18, 2018 at 1:18 PM
    • #6
    Quote from Rice

    -- unless she was at the cinema for a return of the Yul Brenner classic and was moved to photograph it. In that case,

    She took a picture of "The King and I."

    ... unless you attended the event with a monarch, in which case “She took a picture of the King and me at ‘The King and I.’”

  • Splinter
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    • May 31, 2019 at 7:31 AM
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    • #7

    “Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” ~ Cyril Connolly

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

    • Previous Official Post
  • Splinter August 12, 2021 at 5:05 PM

    Moved the thread from forum All about writing to forum The bookshelf.
  • Splinter
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    • August 20, 2022 at 4:13 PM
    • #8

    "Never end a sentence on a preposition."

    When criticized for occasionally ending a sentence on a preposition, Winston Churchill replied, "This is the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put." Churchill's reply satirizes the strict adherence to this rule. No one is urging you to write, "Where is Johnny at?" or "Where are you going to?" The best, most effective communication sounds and feels natural, and if that means writing, "Here is the file the list belongs with" instead of "Here is the file with which the list belongs," then write it that way.

    I love Churchill's reply.

    "Never End a Sentence in a Preposition" and Six Other Myths about Writing | Expert Commentary | IRMI.com

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

  • Online
    Rice
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    15,442
    • August 21, 2022 at 1:14 PM
    • #9

    I love Churchill’s reply too. Language should sound natural, not strained. (This is one of the reasons I’d love to see “whom” buried: it is so often misused by people trying to sound erudite, and it nearly always sounds contorted.)

    I’m a firm believer in ending sentences with prepositions when the result is better sentence flow. Ditto with split infinitives, contractions, and starting sentences with conjunctions.

    Good common sense article, Splinter .

  • Splinter
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    • August 22, 2022 at 4:23 PM
    • #10

    "For Whom The Bell Tolls."?

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

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    Rice
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    • August 22, 2022 at 5:30 PM
    • #11

    Correctly used: object of preposition “for.” I’d never accuse John Donne of misusing any particle of the language.

    Or Ernest Hemingway.

  • Online
    Rice
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    15,442
    • October 22, 2022 at 3:10 PM
    • #12

    Here’s your easy grammar quiz for October:

    Their, There, and They’re.

    https://www.dictionary.com/games/quizzes/quiz-yourself-on-their-there-and-theyre?lctg=551a8dea3b35d01d0b99ede3&email=a2fb33817777ac551a264ffa642c8bd4&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022%20Saturday%20Throwback%20Quiz%20%202022-10-22&utm_term=Quizzes%20Combo%202019

  • Splinter
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    • October 22, 2022 at 5:01 PM
    • #13

    6/7 :facepalm:

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

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    Rice
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    • October 22, 2022 at 10:07 PM
    • #14

    Your editor asked: Which did you miss?

  • daniel
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    • October 23, 2022 at 5:28 AM
    • #15

    6/7 Missed the first ?.

  • Splinter
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    • October 23, 2022 at 7:25 AM
    • #16
    Quote from Rice

    Your editor asked: Which did you miss?

    Number 1

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

  • Splinter
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    • January 17, 2024 at 3:02 PM
    • #17

    Normalcy or normality? I use the latter but notice that our cousins in the transatlantic colonies use normalcy more often.

    Which do you prefer?

    Normalcy vs. normality
    They are variants of each other, though <em>normalcy</em> is considered inferior.
    grammarist.com

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

  • UK Man
    Posts
    11,238
    • January 17, 2024 at 3:50 PM
    • #18

    They should get back to normality.

  • Online
    Rice
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    • January 17, 2024 at 4:22 PM
    • #19

    "Return to normalcy" was a campaign slogan used by Warren G. Harding during the 1920 United States presidential election.

    (Wikipedia)

    Perhaps that’s the origin of the word ‘Normalcy’ in the US? Not that the word is part of my everyday vocabulary, but I’m pretty sure I say ‘Normality.’

  • Splinter
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    • January 18, 2024 at 8:56 AM
    • #20

    Normalcy just sounds plain wrong!

    I'll grab ma coat...

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

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