Anonymous  +  329427 Wed, 14 Feb 07 09:16 PM All suspects but he denied having committed the crime. "But he" or "But him"? Which one is correct? Anonymous

	Grammar Geek  +  329439 Wed, 14 Feb 07 10:42 PM All the suspect but him (except for him, excepting him, aside from him)... Of course, when in doubt, rewrite: He was the only one of the suspects who did not deny having committed the crime. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,683 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Angliholic  +  329513 Thu, 15 Feb 07 05:36 AM  Anonymous wrote: All suspects but he denied having committed the crime. "But he" or "But him"? Which one is correct? I take CJ's signature as a self-evident truh, i.e. there are no facts, only interpretations. And this is my interpretation of this question: All suspects denied having committed the crime, but he didn't. Angliholic Joined on Wed, Feb 14 2007 SomewhereinFormosa Veteran Member 6,474 Without true love, life is meaningless and worthless since our physical world is nothing but a dream. ~~Angliholic~~簡瑞達

	Cool Breeze  +  329593 Thu, 15 Feb 07 11:21 AM  Anonymous wrote:  Going strictly prescriptivist in nature, should it not be "All the suspects but HE...." Since we are still considering the pronoun in the subject case?  The examples you gave in parentheses take the object form, as the pronoun comes after a preposition.  But is a preposition in the sentence, consequently him is the correct word since all prepositions take an object form in English. CB Cool Breeze Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006 Senior Member 3,979 "I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991 Prepositions, Nouns, Pronouns

	Angliholic  +  329598 Thu, 15 Feb 07 11:58 AM  Cool Breeze wrote:  Anonymous wrote:  Going strictly prescriptivist in nature, should it not be "All the suspects but HE...." Since we are still considering the pronoun in the subject case?  The examples you gave in parentheses take the object form, as the pronoun comes after a preposition.  But is a preposition in the sentence, consequently him is the correct word since all prepositions take an object form in English. CB From my humble perspective, "but" could be used as a conjunction in many contexts. The following, just to name a few, are some instances: A.)  All but he were there. B.)  He never reads a book but he falls asleep. C.)  Not that I don't like him, but that he is not my type. D.)  It is not I but he that is to blame. Angliholic Prepositions, Nouns, Pronouns

	Grammar Geek  +  329649 Thu, 15 Feb 07 02:43 PM This is similar to the discussion about "give it to whoever answers the door" - you need to look at the role the pronoun plays within the phrase, not the role the phrase playes in the entire sentence. But is indeed a preposition: All but him. Him takes the object form because it is the object of a preposition. Yes, Angliholic, but is often a conjunction, but it can wear many hats, including preposition. Grammar Geek Prepositions, Nouns, Pronouns

	Angliholic  +  329654 Thu, 15 Feb 07 03:03 PM  Grammar Geek wrote: Yes, Angliholic, but is often a conjunction, but it can wear many hats, including preposition. OK, GG, let's study our base sentence--All suspects but he/him denied having committed the crime.-- in the following two conversions: A.) All suspects denied having committed the crime but he didn't (denied having committed the crime). B.) All suspects denied having committed the crime but him didn't (denied having committed the crime). Which one is grammatically correct? Which one works better? Angliholic Grammar, Prepositions

	Grammar Geek  +  329655 Thu, 15 Feb 07 03:08 PM Obviously, as you well know, a is correct in your two choices above. But that is a rewriting of the statement, and "but" is used in a different way. Perhaps you'll note that in my orignal answer I said that if you have doubt, to rewrite it in a way that you can be sure uses the right pronoun. Equally obviously, you don't trust my answer, so we'll wait for another native or well-learned speaker, and perhaps you will feel more confidence in the answer if you hear it from someone else. Edited to add the following from www.m-w.com 2but Function: preposition 1 a: with the exception of : barring <no one there but me> Grammar Geek Prepositions, Nouns, Pronouns