LEND ME YOUR EAR: JUST BETWEEN "SHE AND I"

Last time around, our final example of what is right in using "me, myself, and I" inadvertently turned into what was wrong. Perhaps a computer got me confused with Dave Barry in his Mr. Language Person mode. I can dream, can't I?

For the benefit of readers who are still keeping notebooks, let me explain that "I myself is to blame" should have read "I myself am to blame." Mistakes in the use of pronouns in English are legion, but this one is rare.

Pronouns fall into six categories: personal, possessive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, and indefinite. Personal pronouns are further divided by gender -- "he, she, it" and their case forms -- and misuses are so common in this division that readers are forever suggesting re-runs.

As with nouns, a personal pronoun used as the subject of a sentence calls for the nominative case: "He telephones another stranger every day." Again, like nouns, the nominative case is required if used as a predicate: "This is she." Time was when I answered the phone with "This is Aileen," or "This is Miss Lorberg," to keep callers from thinking I was just showing off my expertise. Today, I sometimes give only my number: It cuts down on harassing calls.

The nominative case is also used with appositives, as in "He, Johnny Jumpup, is no blooming idiot." On the contrary, "Johnny Jumpup he is no idiot" is unacceptable, and redundant as well. Commas are often essential in defining what is correct in construction.

In the objective case, the pronoun may serve as (1) object of a verb or preposition; (2) indirect object; (3) subject of an infinitive; (4) to complement the verb "to be"; (5) object of a participle or gerund; or (6) an appositive to an object. Following are examples that demonstrate these usages.

1a. Direct object: Tom's mother scolded him for trying to kiss Sally at recess. b. Object of preposition: Tom's father also spoke severely to him.

2. Indirect object: After the scolding, Tom's mother gave him a forgiving smile.

3. Subject of infinitive: Tom's father asked me to report to him on his son's future behavior. (Toward Sally?)

4. To complement the infinitive "to be": He knew Sally to be her.

5. Object of participle or gerund: Seeing me to the door, Tom's father left. Helping me (Tom's teacher) as well as Tom, he had done his duty.

6. Appositive to an object: Tom invited us, his parents and me, to go to the game with him.

Had enough of Tom? Actually, his friends called him Tommy, and his last name was Tucker. He didn't sing for Sally, but he sat next to her in class and I heard him murmur something. He probably kissed her while I was solving a problem on the blackboard.

To return to usage: A pronoun following "than" is construed in the nominative or objective case, depending upon the construction of the elliptical clause:

Nominative: Molly's brother is stronger than she (is strong).

Objective: You like Molly's brother better than (you like) her.

When a pronoun is used as a subject, or in the predicate with a noun in apposition, the nominative form of the pronoun is used:

All we girls went to the game. (Not us girls.)

It was we boys who paid for the tickets. (Not us boys.)

If the object of a verb or preposition is compound, both are in the objective case: Susan's mother took Susan and me to the recreation center. (Not Susan and I.)

"But," when used as a preposition for "except," takes an object: Susan's mother invited all our friends but him. (Not all but he.)

"Between" also requires the objective case: Susan's mother sat between her and me. (Not between she and I or even her and I.)

Susan's mother probably wanted to keep us two girls from talking about our undesignated "him" any longer. She might have been afraid Susan and I would wind up trying to kill each other.