As the above title suggests, when do we use the comparison "than I" or "than me" in a sentence?
According to Strunk and White's Elements of Style, the definitive authority on grammar, "a pronoun in a comparison is nominative if it is the subject of a stated or understood verb." Here's an example of what this means: "Marlene speaks Spanish better than I." [better than I speak it / better than I do.] The explanation continues, "but in general, avoid understood verbs by supplying them." For example: Instead of "Glenn is taller than I," one should say, "Glenn is taller than I am."
The objective is used when the pronoun after the comparison "than" is an object of the sentence, not the subject. Here's what I mean: "Mommy loves Tommy more than me." [more than she loves me.] I believe that people use the objective pronouns (than me, than us, than him, etc.) because they don't realize that the nominative should be used if followed by a verb. For example: "Mommy likes coffee more than me." This should be, "Mommy loves coffee more than I like coffee," not that "Mommy likes coffee more than she likes me." Do you see the difference? Let's check out some more examples of correct and incorrect usage.
INCORRECT
Example: In The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham, heroine Milly Havill is soon to be married. Her older, unmarried sister Isobel is considered an "independent spirit" by their father. He says, "Can you really see Isobel settling down with some dreary businessman? Anyway, she's far too young."
Milly pipes in with, "She's older than me." *According to the above rule, it should be "than I am."
Example: On TV's "Mad Men," one of the secretaries at the ad agency got caught punching the time card of a friend who left early. She tells this to another friend after work. "She got in more trouble than me." *Of course this secretary meant to say, "than I did."
Example: During Steve Harvey's Mother's Day Makeover segment of his TV show, participant Kim says she likes to dress up and play with her grandkids. She came out on stage wearing a full Cat in the Hat costume. Steve asked, "It's fun, hunh?" She answered, "I think I have as much fun as them."
*The better answer would have been, "as they do."
Example: Realtor/father Phil Dunphy, on TV's "Modern Family," is on the phone with a new client who happens to be a recently divorced woman. He says to her, "I'm mad for you, Diane. Roger's dating already? OMG. I wonder if she's younger than him." *I believe he meant to say, "than he is."
CORRECT
Example: NYPD consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, on TV's "Elementary," is pitted against his old nemesis Moriarty. He says to his partner, Dr. Joan Watson, "Moriarty is quite clearly smarter than I am." *Bravo, writers. Such an erudite character as Holmes would indeed speak correctly.
Example: On TV's "Person of Interest," John Reese's job is to save people from an untimely death. One of his candidates asks him, "Who would want me dead?" John responds with, "You would know better than I." [understood verb "would".] *Kudos to the writers.
Example: During an episode of "Shark Tank" on TV, entrepreneur Mary Beth Lugo says to the sharks, "Nobody knows this company more than I do." *Maybe with such good grammar, she'll get the money she needs from the investors.
Example: Jennifer Warner is the author of The Guy Not Taken. In her book, the narrator is describing her sister and brother. "She was almost seventeen, and had felt entitled to boss our little brother around since his arrival had displaced her from her crib, even though he was taller than she was." *Excellent, Ms. Warner.
BOTH CORRECT AND INCORRECT
Look at these examples from Beyond Belief by Jenna Miscavige Hill.
On page 116, Jenna describes a girl she'll be working with in Florida. The girl's position is Commanding Officer of Cadets. Jenna says, "With a post like that, my concern was that she was probably more ethical than I ." *Yes, a verb would likely follow.
On page 117, Jenna continues to describe a course she takes. "I was looking around for a seat when a girl a year or two older than me . . . walked up to me and introduced herself." *In this example, she should be using "than I" to indicate that the girl is older than she is.
On page 123, "Diane and I didn't always get along. She was older, smarter, and quicker than I was."
*Back to the correct usage. *Hello, Editors!
In conclusion, I realize that all of these examples were focused on the nominative, which requires a subject and an understood or stated verb, but you get my point, right? So now you are as enlightened as I am.
