Still musing about this pronoun question, I ran some searches with some surprising results. As those who've been watching will know, it is rare to find a "mistake" outnumbering the "standard" usage on the Web contrary to what some grinches assume. Yet this formula seems to do it.
I'd appreciate it if one or two other people would double-check at least some of these results (set search to English only), since we have found that unfortunate problem of Google's erratic estimates.
"for my wife and I" 6890
"for my wife and me" 3360 1:2
"for my husband and I" 5670
"for my husband and me" 2340 1:2
A check of the first hits shows that about 10% of these can be accounted for by other punctuation, such as:
...a problem for my husband (and I agree)
I have lost my love for my wife, and I want to get...
That still leaves plenty of hits remaining, though.
Is it tied to the particular, frequently-used phrase with "husband" and "wife"? Apparently not. There is, for example:
"for my boss and I" 84
"for my boss and me" 8 l:10
"for my sister and I" 1580
"for my sister and me" 1170 2:3
"for my brother and I" 1480
"for my brother and me" 1140 2:3
"for my friend and I" 1050
"for my friend and me" 192 1:5
No wonder this construction is starting to sound more normal to me it truly is being used a lot.
Intrigued Donna Richoux
I'd appreciate it if one or two other people would double-check at least some of these results (set search to English only), since we have found that unfortunate problem of Google's erratic estimates.
"for my wife and I" 6890
"for my wife and me" 3360 1:2
"for my husband and I" 5670
"for my husband and me" 2340 1:2
A check of the first hits shows that about 10% of these can be accounted for by other punctuation, such as:
...a problem for my husband (and I agree)
I have lost my love for my wife, and I want to get...
That still leaves plenty of hits remaining, though.
Is it tied to the particular, frequently-used phrase with "husband" and "wife"? Apparently not. There is, for example:
"for my boss and I" 84
"for my boss and me" 8 l:10
"for my sister and I" 1580
"for my sister and me" 1170 2:3
"for my brother and I" 1480
"for my brother and me" 1140 2:3
"for my friend and I" 1050
"for my friend and me" 192 1:5
No wonder this construction is starting to sound more normal to me it truly is being used a lot.
Intrigued Donna Richoux
Still musing about this pronoun question, I ran some searches with some surprising results. As those who've been watching will ... that unfortunate problem of Google's erratic estimates. "for my wife and I" 6890 "for my wife and me" 3360 1:2
Some of them may not have been incorrect, for my wife and I often go out together.
Paul
My Lake District walking site (updated 29th September 2003): http://paulrooney.netfirms.com
Please sponsor me for the London Marathon at:
http://www.justgiving.com/london2004
Still musing about this pronoun question, I ran some searches ... and I" 6890 "for my wife and me" 3360 1:2
Some of them may not have been incorrect, for my wife and I often go out together.
Clever, but I actually had looked for that in the first hundred hits. Not there. (That sort of "for" is known in US English but it is a little bit rare.)
I don't want to depress you with too many real examples, but they are things like:
Please pray for my husband and I.
It relieved all stress for my husband and I immediately and... Wouldn't it be easiest for my husband and I to write one joint will It will be a much needed get away for my husband and I.
Best Donna Richoux
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I'd appreciate it if one or two other people would ... and I" 6890 "for my wife and me" 3360 1:2
Some of them may not have been incorrect, for my wife and I often go out together.
I just tested this and read the first 30 hits carefully. Indeed, five of them are correct English:
This has been a particularly busy and stressful summer for my wife, and I know with another harsh Minnesota winter ... so), any sexual attraction I had for my wife and I think my wife had for me started to disappear.
So, extrapolating this small sample, the ratio seems to be a little better than Donna feared.
Best regards
Steffen
>
"for my wife and I" 10300
"for my wife and me" 5020 1:2
"for my husband and I" 8450
"for my husband and me" 3380 1:2
"for my boss and I" 123
"for my boss and me" 11 1:11
"for my sister and I" 2360
"for my sister and me" 1740 4:5
"for my brother and I" 2200
"for my brother and me" 1690 4:5
"for my friend and I" 1590
"for my friend and me" 288 1:5
But I checked the first section of the "for my boss and I" results and 70% to 80% of them were "other constructions".
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
"for my wife and I" 10300
"for my wife and me" 5020 1:2
"for my husband and I" 8450
"for my husband and me" 3380 1:2
"for my boss and I" 123
"for my boss and me" 11 1:11
"for my sister and I" 2360
"for my sister and me" 1740 4:5
"for my brother and I" 2200
"for my brother and me" 1690 4:5
"for my friend and I" 1590
"for my friend and me" 288 1:5
But I checked the first section of the "for my boss and I" results and 70% to 80% of them were "other constructions".
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
I don't want to depress you with too many real examples, but they are things like: Please pray for my ... and I to write one joint will It will be a much needed get away for my husband and I.
It makes me laugh, rather than depressing me, because (at least here in England) it tends to be a class/snob issue: most of the people who do it are trying to sound good. The commoners (and the well educated) still say 'me'.
Paul
My Lake District walking site (updated 29th September 2003): http://paulrooney.netfirms.com
Please sponsor me for the London Marathon at:
http://www.justgiving.com/london2004
Students: We have free audio pronunciation exercises.
I don't want to depress you with too many real ... a much needed get away for my husband and I.
It makes me laugh, rather than depressing me, because (at least here in England) it tends to be a class/snob issue: most of the people who do it are trying to sound good. The commoners (and the well educated) still say 'me'.
It is possible that some of the examples Donna has found are ironic, given the royal associations of the phrase.
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
(snip)
Oh, good. I'm glad you could account for those numbers they were awfully high.
Best Donna Richoux
But I checked the first section of the "for my boss and I" results and 70% to 80% of them were "other constructions".
Oh, good. I'm glad you could account for those numbers they were awfully high.
Best Donna Richoux
Thanks for checking, Steffen. I just compared your items to what Google gives me here I've got them in a different order than you put them here, but we do have all the same ones. I believe I counted all these in my check of the first hundred I think I got 11 out of 100, or, as I said in my first post, about 10%.
But suppose you and I both underestimated and, say, *20%* of the "and I" pages were actually OK. That would reduce the 6890 hits to 5512 hits, which would still outnumber the "and me" constructions (whether or not those "and me" include some false results, as well).
I still think this measures something that is truly happening. I hate to say this, because there are so many Clinton-bashers anyway, but I heard Hillary Clinton say some years ago, "It's an honor for my husband and I to be here." I think some of this may depend on sentence constructions it may "sound better" to the speaker when a verb follows, as opposed to its being exposed at the end of a sentence.
Best Donna Richoux
But suppose you and I both underestimated and, say, *20%* of the "and I" pages were actually OK. That would reduce the 6890 hits to 5512 hits, which would still outnumber the "and me" constructions (whether or not those "and me" include some false results, as well).
I still think this measures something that is truly happening. I hate to say this, because there are so many Clinton-bashers anyway, but I heard Hillary Clinton say some years ago, "It's an honor for my husband and I to be here." I think some of this may depend on sentence constructions it may "sound better" to the speaker when a verb follows, as opposed to its being exposed at the end of a sentence.
Best Donna Richoux
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