It is I who....It is You who...

   Share on Facebook  
kurtlau  #40268  Sun, 01 Aug 04 02:37 AM
Dear All,
>
> 1)?It is *I* who *makes* you cry.
> 2) It is *I* who *make* you cry.
> 3) It is *me* who *makes* you cry.
> 4) It is *me* who *make* you cry.
> 5) It is *you* who *makes* me cry.
> 6) It is *you* who *make* me cry.
>
> Which of the above are grammatically correct or, though incorrect
> are informally acceptable?
  
Not Ranked
Joined on Sun, Jul 18 2004
New Member (08)
CalifJim  #40373  Mon, 02 Aug 04 07:39 AM
Correct:
It is I who make you cry.
It is you who make ...
It is he who makes ...
...

Informally, I wouldn't use any of them, choosing in preference this turn of phrase:

I'm the one who makes you cry.
You're the one who makes me cry.
He's the one who makes her cry.

...
  
Top 10 Contributor
Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004
California
Veteran Member (17,568)
ModeratorProficient Speaker
"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche
Pemmican  #40504  Tue, 03 Aug 04 01:06 AM
>> Correct:
It is I who make you cry.
It is you who make ...


Nope, these examples are not correct, it has to be:

It is I who makes you cry,
It is you who makes me cry.

The 3rd person singular -s is needed as the verb has to agree with the pronoun "who" which refers back to "it" in the beginning of the sentence. It does NOT have to agree with the personal pronoun mentioned within the sentences.
  
Top 150 Contributor
Joined on Thu, Aug 21 2003
Westphalia, Germany
Regular Member (569)
ModeratorProficient Speaker
Wâ mag ich mich nu vinden? wâ mac ich mich nu suochen, wâ? nu bin ich hie und bin ouch dâ und enbin doch weder dâ noch hie. wer wart ouch sus verirret ie?wer wart ie sus...
CalifJim  #40530  Tue, 03 Aug 04 03:59 AM
Thanks for the correction. Embarrassed [:$] (Studying too much French! - They do it the other way!)

In the meantime, as long as we're on it, wouldn't the "who" refer back to the personal pronoun rather than to the "it"?

Also, did you mean "It does NOT have to agree" (implying it can if you want), or did you mean "It does NOT agree with ... , but with "who")?

Another question: Can "who" be regarded as either singular or plural in this construction? That is, if only singular, we would have to say:

"It is they who makes me cry." I wouldn't generate that in a million years!!! But this goes back to the idea that ultimately the reference is to "it" which IS always singular.

Confused. :(

  
CalifJim  #40540  Tue, 03 Aug 04 05:57 AM
I got to thinking I could answer my own questions by browsing the Internet.
With the help of Google, I concluded that there really isn't an answer that everyone agrees on when it comes to this construction.

From: [link]

The final factor is the traditional use of Latin grammatical concepts to teach English grammar. This historical quirk dates to the 17th century, and has never quite left us. From this we get the Latin-derived rule, which Fowler still acknowledges. And we *do* follow that rule to some extent:

"Who are they?" (not "Who are them?" or "Whom are they?")
"We are they!" (in response to the preceding)
"It is I who am at fault."
"That's the man who he is."

But not always. "It is me" is attested since the 16th Century. (Speakers who would substitute "me" for "I" in the "It is I who am at fault" example would also sacrifice the agreement of person, and substitute "is" for "am" [resulting in "It is me who is at fault"].

-----

From: [link]

It is I who have allergies.
- IT is the subject of the independent clause. I is the predicate nominative to IT. WHO is the subject of the final dependent clause.

------
From these excerpts I conclude that "It is I who am ..." is the more conservative form, "...I who is ..." being more modern.
Actual usage - from my Internet sample - whether right or wrong, varies between "It is I who have/am" and "It is I who has/is".

I wasn't interested enough in doing a count! I leave that to the reader! It seemed about 50-50, actually.
  
miriam  #40618  Tue, 03 Aug 04 03:58 PM
Hello all Smile [:)]

The sentences posted by Kurtlau are "cleft sentences". In these sentences, a relative pronoun subject ("who" in this case) is usually followed by a verb in agreement with its antecedent ("I" in the first sentence):
"It is I who make you cry."

However, there is a more "informal" version, in which 3rd. person concord prevails when an objective pronoun is used:
"It is me who makes you cry."

Miriam
  
Top 100 Contributor
Joined on Mon, May 10 2004
Argentina
Regular Member (821)
Teachers
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." Plato
Pemmican  #40643  Tue, 03 Aug 04 05:13 PM
"It is I who make you cry."

What?? I can't believe this sentence is correct, where did you find that, Miriam??
  
miriam  #40644  Tue, 03 Aug 04 05:24 PM
aww... don't get mad at me, Pem? Crying [:'(]

I think that's from Quirk's "A Grammar of Contemporary English". I don't remember now where else I've read that.

It makes sense to me. Suppose we get rid of the "cleft", then we will simply have: "I make you cry".

Or, as is the case here, you make me cry! Wink [;)]

Miriam
  
Pemmican  #40787  Wed, 04 Aug 04 04:34 PM
I'm not mad at you, Miriam Wink [;)] I'm just surprised as for me, the form without the -s doesn't seem to be right.
But - I'm not a native English speaker, so I'm not really concerned with all the specialities within the English language. *hehe*
  
AddThis Feed Button RSS Feed: ESL General English Grammar Questions
© 2008 MediaCET Ltd.
Terms and Conditions & Terms of Service