Hello,
My daughter has Language Arts homework regarding Pronouns tonight. The book does not give much info or help. I wish the Khan Academy had english examples! Do you know of any free sites to help with grammar?
For example here are a few sentences:
I was excited about building a garden with plants that require less water than (they or them).
Digging up the ground for the garden outside the school was easier for Mr. Danforth, our sponsor, than (we or us).
Sophie was better at taking care of the plants than Agatha and (I or me).
Grammar is not my strong area, thanks in advance for any help or direction.
I don't know of any sites. But, the trick I learned to pick the right pronoun was to rearrange the sentence.
1) They require less water... (not them)
2) It was easier for us... (not we)
3) I was better at taking care of the plants... (not me)
You are dealing with subject or object pronouns.
Subject pronouns DO things. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Object pronouns come after the verb; they're the one the action is talking about. Examples: me, you, her, him, us, them
You could try them out in a simpler sentence, such as: School was easier for us. Sophie was better than me. Plants require less water than them. (Just cut out all the extra words to make it easier to find the correct word.) Except that - the first sentence would really be better if you answered it "than they do" - it's kind of a weirdly-worded sentence to begin with. :-/
Hope that helps! :)
The winning answer is....Dana K (edited and Sue W.).! When you have a comparison in the sentence, the subject/object rules are a bit trickier. The sentence can leave out words that complete the comparison, use the subjective case, and still be correct.
The first sentence above is just odd - I don't know what "they" or "them" is referring to but have to guess that some other plants were referenced in a prior sentence. In this case, it would be "they" (the "do" that completes the sentence is implied and doesn't have to be written).
The second one is us.
The last one is "I." If you put "me," you are saying that Sophie was better at taking care of the plants than she was at taking care of "Agatha and me." The sentence is really trying to say that Sophie was better at taking care of the plants that "Agatha and I" [were] - it's OK to leave the "were" unwritten.
This might explain it more clearly:
http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/pronoun.asp
Rule 5
To decide whether to use the subject or object pronoun after the words than or as, mentally complete the sentence.
Examples:
Tranh is as smart as she/her.
If we mentally complete the sentence, we would say, "Tranh is as smart as she is." Therefore, she is the correct answer.
Zoe is taller than I/me.
Mentally completing the sentence, we have, "Zoe is taller than I am."
Daniel would rather talk to her than I/me.
We can mentally complete this sentence in two ways: "Daniel would rather talk to her than to me." OR "Daniel would rather talk to her than I would." As you can see, the meaning will change depending on the pronoun you choose.
This always works.
Digging up the ground for the garden was easier for (eliminate "Mrs. Danforth, our sponsor, than)... which sounds better, we, or us? You'd never say, "it was easier for WE", you'd say, "It was easier for us."
Sophie was better at taking care the plants than (Agatha and) ....I or me? Add was on the end of the sentence. You'd never say "than me was." You'd say, "Than I was."
Adding to the sentence or taking away in the appropriate place will usually get you your answer, just by virtue of what sounds correct.
The first sentence is not a very a great sentence to begin with. I would say "They"
The second is "us." Finish off the sentence to figure it out. It would read, "Digging up the ground for the garden outside the school was easier for Mr. Danforth, our sponsor, than it was for us.
The third is "I." Break down the sentence, "Sophie was better than I was at taking care of the plants."
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm
http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/pronoun.asp
Here are just a couple of websites that I found.
A quick rule about *I/me*: Which one sounds right if you remove the other noun (person's name) in the statement? Sophie was better at taking care of the plants than.... ME.
What Catherine C. said. It's "them" "us" and "me". Those plants require less water than "them". Digging is not easy for "us". Sophie is better than "me". "They" "We" and "I" would be the subjects of the sentences. They are the ones that are "doing" something in the sentence. In these sentences, the subjects are "I" (was excited), "(The act of) digging up the ground" and "Sophie".
"They" and "I" could be used in sentences 1 and 3 only if they ended in verbs: "require less water than they do", "...plants than Agatha and I were". I can't find any other alternative for sentence #2 than "us"...
And people think other languages are hard...
Added after reading the other posts: Looks to me like your daughter will need her teacher to explain to her. You have different answers on this thread. Yes, English grammar IS hard!!! LOL!
Original:
I don't have any sites to offer, and I'm not an English teacher, but a good rule of thumb is to take out as much of the sentence to make it simple and see which pronoun fits. Here's an example:
John and I are going to the movies. We/us are going to the movies. Of course, the pronoun should be "we".
Grammar is hard! Thank goodness I never had to do any technical writing!
Dawn
Best way is to remove unnecessary info.
1) .... I agree with others. Weird sentence, but I would go with "them"
2) This one I would actually add more into the sentence: Digging up the ground for the garden outside the school was easier for Mr. Danforth, our sponsor, than it was for US.
3) Sophie was better at taking care of the plants than ME.
I suck at grammar as well but this homework just screams the reason they beat it into you in high school and college don't just replace a noun with a pronoun all willy nilly!
The worst part is because of their sentence structure I am having a hard time inserting a noun to figure out what form of pronoun to use. Ick! I think it is they, we and I but I wouldn't bet a pretzel on that!
I loved grammar, and much to my son's dismay- I demand :) proper grammar from him at all times. My best suggestion is to type the sentences out on your computer in a word document- it will correct your grammar-if you have question. But make sure your daughter does it, not you.
As for the I/me thing, say "am" after the I and see how it sounds. "Mom made a costume for I? If it's within a preposition, it's always "me"; if it's a comparison (following "than") it's "I". My brother is bigger than I (am).
