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Well, let’s see if any of that 8th grade grammar still hovers around in my head.
In the first sentence “He likes you more than me,” “than” acts as a proposition. In this case, the speaker says the object of the sentence likes him/her less than the person being spoken to.
In the second sentence “He likes you more than I,” “than” acts as a subordinating conjunction. This sentence is really supposed to be “He likes you more than I (do).” However, the “do” is often dropped, or understood, and is thus not used in this sentence. In this case, the speaker says that the object of the sentence (“he”) likes the person being spoken to more than the speaker likes that person.
Although the “than me” is used less often, both sentences are grammatically correct (and have completely dif. meanings).
Last edited by thedebutante; 05-29-2005, 04:50 PM.
Interesting distinction between the different functions "than" might have...
Originally posted by thedebutante
Well, let’s see if any of that 8th grade grammar still hovers around in my head.
In the first sentence “He likes you more than me,” “than” acts as a proposition. In this case, the speaker says the object of the sentence likes him/her less than the person being spoken to.
I suppose you mean subject when saying object. Subject is "he", and object is "you". But then what's "me"?
In the second sentence “He likes you more than I,” “than” acts as a subordinating conjunction. This sentence is really supposed to be “He likes you more than I (do).” However, the “do” is often dropped, or understood, and is thus not used in this sentence. In this case, the speaker says that the object of the sentence (“he”) likes the person being spoken to more than the speaker likes that person.
I'm not sure what you mean in the last bit... I say: "He likes you more than I like you." Is that what you're saying?
Although the “than me” is used less often, both sentences are grammatically correct (and have completely dif. meanings).
Why would one be used less often than the other if both are correct?
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