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 Sun Aug 03, 2008 23:01 pm A common error: I or me |
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Good question. I'd say that you'd here people in America using 'I' more likely in this context, whereas speakers of British English would more likely tend to say 'me' here.
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Ralf
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| Sun Aug 03, 2008 23:13 pm A common error: I or me |
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I guess Ralf is pulling your leg about AmE. 
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| Sun Aug 03, 2008 23:16 pm A common error: I or me |
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Actually I wasn't! There's this North American (Canadian) friend of mine who keeps correcting me whenever I say something like 'you and me should go for a drink'!
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Ralf
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| Sun Aug 03, 2008 23:18 pm A common error: I or me |
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According to my teacher, they have different meaning:
*He likes candies more than I ( I like candies).
*He likes candies more than me ( he prefers candies over me). |
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Ralahpik
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| Sun Aug 03, 2008 23:29 pm A common error: I or me |
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| Quote: | | 'you and me should go for a drink'! |
Hmmm... That's not quite the same sort of thing as Ralahpik's example, Ralf. 
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| Sun Aug 03, 2008 23:34 pm A common error: I or me |
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I think the two most natural forms are:
1. He likes X more than me.
2. He likes X more than I do.
If the sentence were:
3. He likes Candy more than me.
the teacher might have a point about the possible ambiguity.
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| Mon Aug 04, 2008 0:30 am A common error: I or me |
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Yes, but I've heard northern Americans say 'he likes whiskey more than I'.
Something in the back of my head rings some bells chiming 'the influence of 19th century descriptive grammar', but...who knows.
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| Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:00 am A common error: I or me |
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How many North Americans do you actually know, Ralf?
Are they all prescriptive English teachers and/or do they say such things mainly only after knocking a couple down?
Ending that sentence with 'I' would sound stilted and overly formal. Perhaps your North American friend was using it jokingly -- possibly because he/she knows you teach English (?).
At any rate, in AmE, a more natural version of your sentence would generally be pretty much the same as what MrP described:
"He likes whiskey more than I do."
"He likes whiskey more than me" would also be commonly used to mean the same thing -- even though it technically would not be grammatically correct when used that way.
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| Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:06 am A common error: I or me |
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| Ralahpik wrote: | According to my teacher, they have different meaning:
*He likes candies more than I ( I like candies).
*He likes candies more than me ( he prefers candies over me). |
Yes, Ralahpik, your teacher is right. That is technically correct. However, I would advise against using the sentence "He likes candy more than I". It would usually sound much too formal in most situations.
If you want to be 100% grammatically correct AND sound natural, then I would recommend that you say your first sentence this way:
"He likes candy more than I do."
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| Mon Aug 04, 2008 16:54 pm A common error: I or me |
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| Yankee wrote: | .
How many North Americans do you actually know, Ralf? |
There are 3 I'd consider my friends. But I feel I have a (probably distorted) vision of American English due to lifelong exposure on TV.
| Yankee wrote: | | .Are they all prescriptive English teachers and/or do they say such things mainly only after knocking a couple down? |
Well, I should have used a more neutral example like 'He likes Jesus more than I'. 
But yes, they're all English teachers (from Toronto, Boston, Detroit), and I remember a conservation when I felt driven into a 'you use wrong grammar' corner.
| Yankee wrote: | .
Ending that sentence with 'I' would sound stilted and overly formal. Perhaps your North American friend was using it jokingly -- possibly because he/she knows you teach English (?). |
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Yes, that as well. But it sounded more like "You can't say you like Jesus more than me"
| Yankee wrote: | .At any rate, in AmE, a more natural version of your sentence would generally be pretty much the same as what MrP described:
"He likes whiskey more than I do." |
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Yes, I'd prefer this version over the other alternatives, too.
| Yankee wrote: | | ."He likes whiskey more than me" would also be commonly used to mean the same thing -- even though it technically would not be grammatically correct when used that way. |
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Really? I'm confused.
| MrPedantic wrote: | I think the two most natural forms are:
1. He likes X more than me.
2. He likes X more than I do. |
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Could X be Jesus/whiskey/New York/my neighbour's dog Jed?
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| Mon Aug 04, 2008 17:22 pm A common error: I or me |
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Sorry, Ralf, but at this point I'm totally confused about what you're trying to say, and what advice you want to give Ralahpik. 
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| Mon Aug 04, 2008 17:26 pm A common error: I or me |
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| Yankee wrote: | .
"He likes whiskey more than me"
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I imagine this being said by a wife complaining about the habits of her husband
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| Mon Aug 04, 2008 17:41 pm A common error: I or me |
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Yes, Alex, that may well be the case, and that is ultimately the point that Ralahpik's teacher was trying to make.
However, Ralf's example was "He likes (noun) more than I", and I just don't know anyone who would consider that to be a natural-sounding wording. It sounds stilted and contrived.
That's why I originally thought Ralf was just joking around.
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