ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Nominative and objective case

Tanit — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:11:23 GMT

Yoong Liat
By the way, what is 'DUH"? Is it an abbreviation for a phrase?

Hi,
You might want lo listen to this mp3 file from BBC Learning English (warning: nearly 600kb).
Although it focuses on "do'h" ("I'm stupid!", "oh no, not another time!"), the speaker also mentions "duh" as an utterance meaning "everybody knows that!", "that's obvious!", "you're being stupid!".

That's not the sort of thing you'd find explained in a textbook or in a grammar book ... however, it's in some dictionaries (for instance, Merriam-Webster).

Re: Nominative and objective case

Avangi — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:24:51 GMT

It must be pronounced in the manner of an intellectually challenged person, and is meant to suggest that the other party's remarks amount to as much

Edit. Whee! This thing just popped up as a blast from the past! Sorry, guys! I guess it happens when my ring finger accidently drags across the fourth button of my mouse while I'm crossing the nest of in-site links. I never looked at the date. - A.

Re: Nominative and objective case

Yoong Liat — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:26:51 GMT

Hello Barbara

By the way, what is 'DUH"? Is it an abbreviation for a phrase?

Many thanks.

Re: Nominative and objective case

MiRag3 — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 03:52:43 GMT

objective:me, us, you him, her, it, them, whom;

nominative: I, we, you, he, she, it, they, who

nominative case- function of the subject

objective case- function of the object.

Re: Nominative and objective case

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:29:25 GMT

yeah i agree.

i want him to be like i am.
so therefore it is i want him to be i.

Re: Nominative and objective case

Grammar Geek — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 02:09:45 GMT

My dear Anonymous,

It's indeed difficult to anticipate what you need to know before you ever post. I'd like to suggest that you don't find old threads, in which the most recent post is far more than a year old, to append your questions. And I'd also like to suggest that if you want someone to help you, that ending your post with "DUH!" is not the best way to get it. "Please" really goes a lot further.

Re: Nominative and objective case

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 01:17:32 GMT

ok, no offense, but this page does not help me at all.......i need to know what a nominative case is and an objective case is!!!! DUH! :-

( 8:17:25 PM )

Re: Nominative and objective case

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 23:34:30 GMT

It really should be: I want him to be like I am. Therefore, it would be: I want him to be I.

Re: Nominative and objective case

CalifJim — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 04:07:33 GMT

"I want him to be me". The subject of the infinitive clause and the subject complement of the infinitive clause should both take the same case -- objective in this sentence.

Also, in modern English, the subject complement is most often in the objective case even in the main clause: "Who is there?" "It's me!" Most native speakers are not comfortable with "I" anywhere in the sentence except in the subject position (normally at the beginning) of a finite clause.

CJ

Nominative and objective case

Guest — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 02:41:31 GMT

I am a coach for a local high school team that competes in mathematics, logic, and English.
We came across this during one of our tournaments.

Which one is the correct usage of the pronoun?

I want him to be me.
I want him to be I.

We know that him is in the objective case that is the subject fo the infinitive clause, but
we aren't quite sure if it should be me or I.