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Ask for help > Personal Pronoun Help
Personal Pronoun Help
hongduyen
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Personal Pronoun Help
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Hi colleague, Do we use: "He, you and I have known each other for ten years" or "You, he and I have known each other for ten years" ? Please tell me and explain why, will you? Thanks a lot!!!!
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22 Aug 2011
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douglas
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My opinion (just an opinion!):
"You, he and I..." just out of politeness.
As a child, I was taught that you address the listener first and the speaker last out of politeness/courtesy to the listener (and not to sound egotistical)
Douglas |
23 Aug 2011
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ldthemagicman
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Dear Hongduyen,
"You,
he and I have known each other for ten years." �
Confirming what Douglas has just
written --- in �A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language�, Professor Randolph
Quirk and others, write (page 338):
� ... the rule of politeness which
stipulates that 1st Person Pronouns should occur at the end ...�
You will know that, when we use Subject
Pronouns:
i.
The 1st
Person Singular is �I�; Plural is �we�.
ii.
The 2nd
Person Singular is �you�; Plural is also �you�.
iii.
The 3rd
Person Singular is �he�, �she�, �it�; Plural is �they�.
On page 355, Quirk and others explain
that, when there are Pronouns, (or Proper Nouns), connected by �and�,
there is a particular order, which is regarded as grammatically �correct�, in formal usage. However, these �rules� are often broken, in
informal usage.
Rather than quote the �rules�, I have
written several examples.
- You (ii) and
I (i) are friends.
- You, (ii) Peter (iii)
and I (i) are friends. ("You, he and I have known ...�)
- You, (ii), Mary, (iii) Peter
(iii) and I (i)
are friends.
- Peter (iii) and
I (i) are good friends.
- We (i) have a lot to discuss, you (ii)
and I (i).
- Freda (iii) and
I (i) have finished. We (i)
can have lunch now.
- You (ii) and
John (iii) can stop now. You (ii) can both have your lunch.
- If you, (ii) Anna (iii) and I (i) have finished, we (i)
can have lunch.
- You, (ii) May (iii), Thomas
(iii) and their dog (iii) are in the hotel. You (ii) can all go home together.
- If you (ii) and
John (iii) have finished, we (i)
three can all go to lunch together.
- If you, (ii) John (iii) and I (i) have finished, we (i)
can all go to dinner together.
- Mary (iii) and
John (iii) are ready now. They (iii)
can both go to London together.
- She (iii) and
the Italian gentleman (iii) married. They (iii) now both live in Rome.
- She (iii) and
he (iii) married in Naples. They have a daughter. The family (iii)
live in Sicily.
It is possible that others may have different ideas, but I hope that I have helped you.
Les
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23 Aug 2011
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hongduyen
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Thanks you very much, Douglas and Les! You are wonderful to have such wonderful reply! Thanks again and a hug from Vietnam!
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25 Aug 2011
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