Q. I answer our company’s main phone line, and frequently get calls for myself. Today when someone asked
for me saying, “Is Charlotte available?” I responded, “This
is she.” The caller promptly corrected me, informing me that I should have said, “This
is her.” Which is correct?
A. Your response was the correct one. “This is she” is grammatically correct. The
verb “to be” acts as a linking verb, equating subject and object. So this is she
and she is this; “she” and “this”
are one and the same, interchangeable, and to be truly interchangeable they must both play the same grammatical role—that
of the subject.
However, this rule gets broken all the time. I suspect that people expect an object (as is correct for constructions such
as “you slay me” or “what’s wrong
with me?” or “go talk to her”) so they choose an object,
unaware of the nature of a linking verb. Now both forms have come to be accepted if not acceptable; it’s
a matter of how formal you want to be. If you’re a 1950s-style Hollywood garage mechanic who grudgingly
picks up the phone, with greasy hands, when nobody’s “manning”
it, the conversation might go like this:
Hullo?
Hey, Charlie?
That’s me, Mac. Whaddya want?
You can try to avoid the issue by using your own name, rather than a pronoun: “this is Charlotte”
is never wrong.
The who/whom question is similar. Though “whom” is correct when the objective
form is called for, it can sound put on; it seems to draw attention to its own correctness. In any case, if we were all as
proper as you are, proper grammar wouldn’t sound wrong to anyone.
Q. Please confirm or contradict the following. The special grammatical role played by the relative pronoun “whoever”
leads to a case that few seem to know how to handle: when its role in the main clause appears to be objective, but its role
in the subordinate clause is nominative.
For instance, I frequently read things like “We will give the prize to whomever runs the fastest.”
This is incorrect; it should be “whoever.” The rule is that the case of the relative
pronoun is governed by its role in the subordinate clause, not the main clause. Thus, in this case, it is the subject of “runs”
and is therefore nominative. The object of “to” is the entire clause “whoever runs the fastest.”
If you agree with this analysis, please put something on your site about it that I can refer people to. I have some arguments
I would like to win :-)
Q. I frequently read and hear what I believe is misuse of the first person reflexive pronoun “myself.”
For example, someone sent me an e-mail requesting that I send him information. He wrote, “Please forward
the information to myself.” Today I read a statement made by President Clinton [in 1997]. He said, “I
have no recollection of ordering Trooper Ferguson to arrange a meeting between myself and Ms. Jones.”
Is this correct? Or would it have been more correct to say “between me and Ms. Jones”
or “between Ms. Jones and me”?
A. “Between Ms. Jones and me” is correct, although the use of “me”
as the object of a preposition is beginning to disappear from American speech. You will often hear people say, for instance,
“Now she’s really annoyed with John and I.” This mistake
falls into the category of “genteelisms,” or constructions that sound proper whether
they are correct or not. On the other hand, perhaps in some kind of deplorable compensation, the use of “I”
as a subject is also increasingly rare. Young people routinely say, “Me and Rocko went to the gym last
night.” As for “myself,” see CMOS 5.48: “Compound personal pronouns . . . are
used for two purposes: (1) for emphasis (they are then termed intensive pronouns) {I saw Queen Beatrice herself} {I’ll
do it myself}; and (2) to refer to the subject of the verb (in which case they are termed reflexive pronouns) {he saved himself
the trouble of asking} {we support ourselves}.” Your example fits neither of these categories.
Q. Hello CMOS. My close friends and I have decided for numerous reasons that all of the current methods of political correctness in pronouns
are silly and, simply put, not as gender neutral as they claim to be. With that in mind we decided to import the French on as both a singular and plural gender neutral pronoun. However, it has just recently occurred to me that in this situation
what would be the protocol for the genitive case of on and constructions such as his/herself, would it be on self? Thank you CMOS.
A. Well, when on decide to create on’s own grammar, I would say on get to make up all the rules onselves, n’est-ce pas? Bonne chance!
Q. Is “this is mine and Kelly’s cat” correct? Would you please
explain the rules behind this sentence. Thank you.
A. Sorry—not even close. Think about it: would we say “This is mine cat”
(if we are not Shakespeare)? Rather, we say “This is my cat,” because the word
that precedes a noun (“cat”) as a modifier must be an adjective, like “my.”
(The pronoun “mine,” however, can serve as an adjective when it’s
placed after a noun: the cat is mine.) And since it’s polite and grammatical to put yourself last in
a list of people (a custom that dies a little more every time someone says “Me and Jughead bought us
a pit bull”), the correct phrasing would be “This is Kelly’s
and my cat,” or, less awkwardly, “This cat is Kelly’s and
mine.”
Q. I am having trouble deciding if it is “Page and I” or “Page
and me” in “Please let Page and me know.”
A. “Me” is correct, because it’s the object of the verb “let.”
When you’re having trouble with “I” vs. “me,”
try the same sentence without the double object: Please let me know. (You wouldn’t even consider saying
“Please let I know.”) The reason “Page and me”
sounds odd is that we’ve had it hammered into our brains for so long that “Page
and I” is the correct usage when the phrase is the subject of a sentence (“Page
and I are going,” not “me and Page are going”). People seem
to have developed a fear of the “Page and me” construction. But when it’s
the object of a verb or a preposition, it’s correct: Call Page and me when you’re
ready. Give the money to Page and me.
I suppose it’s conceivable that centuries from now, as English continues to evolve, “I”
and “me” in compound subjects and objects could switch places in usage. “Me
and Page are going” and “Call Page and I when you’re ready”
are already so common, it wouldn’t surprise me.
Q. I’m having trouble with “who” vs. “that.”
I understand that, in general, “who” is used with persons, while “that”
is used for groups. However, consider the following sentence: “In this way, the novel satisfies the
demand of many social scientists who/that demand a more reflexive and critical examination of an author’s
political and social context.” Are these many social scientists a group requiring “that,”
or people requiring “who”? Thanks!
A. Although there are humanists who argue to the contrary, we regard social scientists as people and use “who.”
“Who,” like “that,” may refer to groups
of people: The same jury who convicted the embezzler acquitted his alleged accomplice.
Q. When writing a proposal for my company, I typically use the pronouns “we” and
“you.” For example, “We are confident that the job can be
done in the time frame you desire.” I have a colleague who insists that I should write, “Our
company (or XYZ Inc.) is confident that the job can be done within the time frame ABC Co. desires.”
I think the repetitive naming of the companies becomes tedious to read, and it becomes confusing to refer to each company
as “the firm” or whatever. I think that after the company name is mentioned at
the onset, then referring to the respondent as “we” and the recipient company
as “you” makes for clearer communication and also sounds less lofty and distancing.
What is your opinion?
A. It sounds as though you and your colleague have different writing styles and different ideas of the level of formality that’s
best for business letters. Assuming that you write to your contacts and she writes to hers, I don’t
see why this should cause a problem for anyone. If you are representing someone other than yourself, however, then you should
ask for guidance on the tone that person wishes to project.
Q. I have an author who continually uses He/she in the beginning of sentences. I understand that you may make that reference in the beginning, but then must choose one gender
to refer to from then on because it is daunting to the reader to continually have to read He/she. I cannot find a specific CMOS reference to justify this change. Can you assist?
A. Actually, CMOS prefers “he or she.” See 5.220: “He or she. To avoid sexist language, many writers use this alternative phrasing (in place of the generic he). Use it sparingly—preferably after exhausting all the less obtrusive methods of achieving gender neutrality.
In any event, he or she is much preferable to he/she, s/he, (s)he, and the like.” For more advice, including nine tips for achieving gender neutrality, see 5.221–30,
especially 5.225.
Q. Is it proper to capitalize pronouns that refer to a deity? For example, “God is willing to forgive
anyone who comes to Him.”
A. Yes, although it’s not Chicago style. Capping the pronouns can imply an expression of religious faith
on the part of the writer; lowercasing them leaves the writer’s beliefs unclear. The choice of style
should be made with sensitivity to the type of reader you are addressing. Lowercasing is more inclusive, but it might offend
in some kinds of religious literature.
Chicago Style Q&A: New Questions and Answers
