Can I change from "If I were him" to "Were I him"? I thought it was a little awkward...

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Belly

#493146 Wed, 26 Mar 08 12:25 PM

Belly

Joined on Mon, Feb 19 2007

Regular Member (591)

Mister Micawber

#493158 Wed, 26 Mar 08 12:55 PM

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Yes, I think so, but I am muddled by my preference for If I were he, Were I he -- as long as you wish to use the more formal subjunctive, I would use the seemingly more formal nominative pronoun. Informal: If I was him...

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (21,223)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Nouns, Pronouns, Subjunctives, Nominative

Marius Hancu

#493218 Wed, 26 Mar 08 03:49 PM

No, I wouldn't change it. "Were I he/him" is quite rare, while these are more popular:

7 from bbc.co.uk for "if I were he"
154 from bbc.co.uk for "if I were him"

72 from nytimes.com for "if I were he"
479 from nytimes.com for "if I were him"

This is one of the few reasonable ones with "Were I he" at the New York Times. Quite old too (1915):

FINE POINTS IN AUCTION BRIDGE; Answers to Some Interesting ...

Were I he, I should make a bid that would surprise most players