...but the Queen was better than her.....her what? "Her" implies possession, while "she" doesn't. Could a King possibly be better than his? I think snot!gizmo wrote:I had a professor once that swore the phrase, "...but the queen was better than her," was grammatically incorrect. (It should technically read, according to prescriptivist language, "...but the queen was better than she."
I hadn't the guts to challenge him, but I would argue, albeit with little credible base, that the former phrase was indeed correct, but I couldn't find the name of the rule to justify my claim. The rule is, from what I recall, that the object may be used to signify the omission of the verb (is). But again, the name to that rule, should it exist, still eludes me.
As far as my own grammar goes, besides being too lazy to correct obvious mistakes that detract nothing from the point, I don't see anything overtly wrong with what I've written. Should that speak to your cause then I'd much rather welcome direct observations/references/corrections than the seemingly codified mimicry.
As far as the rest of the forum's posts goes, I've come to accept most of them as the currently accepted vernacular. For example: I had to answer the phone at my job recently. I rarely receive phone calls. To determine information about the caller, I asked, "with whom am I speaking," and the caller, extremely befuddled, grunted, "huh?!??." To again determine information about the caller, without adding any futher confusion, I asked again, with a slight tone of defeat, "who am I speaking to," and immediately received the information I initially sought. I still argue that the only person at fault on that conversation was I.
I'm also a big fan of ensuring an object follows a preposition. But sometimes, especially during impromptu speech, I find adherence to that rule using techniques like "on which, in which, etc" come across as grammatical tourniquets; instead the sentence should have been better structured from the onset, which is often difficult during impromptu speech, or the sentence should just flow more naturally, ending with the preposition one so desperately tries to avoid.
I'm not going to proofread this post, I spent far more time typing it than it deserves. It is extremely likely an innocuous thought I'd just as soon retract but I'll post it for now.
ADDENDUM: often i presume anything that leaves an opening for a joke you exploit, however suspect the exploit.
Don't worry about your own grammar. I'f she don't talk right by now, ya ain't gonna change her. Just remember her birthday and visit with her from time to time. Wear that sweater she gave you, so she thinks you like it.