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 > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/