When we separate the compound phrase, a similar situation arises: We gave he and she the book last Christmas. The accusative is also called for when the pronoun is the object of the verb-that is, when it receives the action of the verb, such as her in 'I saw her.' Again, things get complicated when the pronoun is part of a compound phrase, as in this reworked version of Thurber's second example: It's the accusative- him and her in this case-that's called for:

'Louise and I' is fine, as we see if we separate the first compound phrase:īut if we separate the second compound phrase, the pronouns become unidiomatic: Louise and I gave it to he and she last Christmas. Note that there's nothing ungrammatical about putting me first, as in the last example it's simply considered more polite to put oneself in the final position.

When we rewrite these with compound phrases we get the following: After a preposition like to we expect the accusative pronoun me, rather than the nominative pronoun I: 'He gave it to me.' The same is true after other prepositions as well: The first part works, but 'He gave it to I' isn't idiomatic English. What's wrong with this sentence? It might look perfectly fine at first, but if we simplify the compound phrase an odd pronoun choice becomes apparent: In both of the examples he gives, the questionable pronouns are members of a compound phrase-that is, a phrase that has more than one distinct part. Let's take a closer look at Thurber's objections. Thurber has a point, and more than half a century later we're still seeing the same kind of thing that bothered him so much. My cousin Earl Fisher said it to me in Columbus, 'Louise and I gave it to he and she last Christmas.' Nobody says 'I gave it to they,' but 'me' is almost dead, and I have heard its dying screams from Bermuda to Columbus: 'He gave it to Janey and I.'. I have been planning a piece on personal pronouns and the death of the accusative. No one says 'Us so often get them right,' or 'We so seldom get they wrong.' But in a particular type of environment, pronoun use can wander from its predicted territory, as writer and humorist James Thurber noted: Pronoun use is in fact proof of our facility with the language-we so often get them right, and they're not simple things. But you (another one!) maybe knew that already.

What pronoun is you