In traditional grammar you find a similar use of objective case pronouns
when they function as subjects of infinitives in a sentence like "Bill
wanted him to go home." Here the infinitive "to go" functions as the
direct object since what Bill wanted was the action of going to take
place. Bill does not want "him"; "him" is the agent of the action of
the infinitive. It's quite common actually. "We consider him to be
completely honest." "The teacher let us decorate the room." "We left
after seeing him break the record."
Clinton Atchley, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English
Box 7652
1100 Henderson Street
Henderson State University
Arkadelphia, AR 71999
Phone: 870.230.5276
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.hsu.edu/atchlec
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of STAHLKE, HERBERT F
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 11:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Correct?
I agree that they are nominative absolutes, but I'll follow up on my
earlier comment on changes in the function of objective pronouns. This
is another instance of what were traditionally object pronouns taking on
pragmatic roles and marking focus. Like Craig, I would probably use the
subjective forms, but these are among the more acceptable uses of object
pronouns in non-object position.
Herb
Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of English
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306
[log in to unmask]
________________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Crow [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: November 30, 2008 9:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Correct?
You are dead on as usual. I see now that calling them absolutes is a
much more logical analysis. The possibly understood "with" is great!
Thanks, Craig.
John
On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 9:23 AM, Craig Hancock
<[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
John,
I would classify them as "absolutes", which I would define as subject
bearing participle clauses. (Traditional grammar calls them phrases.)
My own preference would be for "he" and "I" in the subject roles, but
these are also commonly introduced by "with", which could be thought of
as understood here. "I slipped my backpack off, and we sat down at one
of the metal tables overlooking the pool, with him sipping his Mountain
Dew and me groping for pen and paper." Maybe the writer drafted it with
"with" and then took it out, leaving the objective pronouns.
Hope that helps.
Craig
>
What are the structures appended to the end of the main clause below?
> They
> feel like participles, but they have pseudo-subjects. Is it correct
to
> use
> the objective pronouns in these structures?
>
> *I slipped my backpack off, and we sat down at one of the metal tables
> overlooking the pool, him sipping his Mountain Dew and me groping for
a
> pen
> and paper.
>
> *I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
>
> Thanks,
> John
>
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