| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| better than I, better than me |
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| Edited English and most Standard levels of speech above Casual, plus all written levels above Informal, insist on He is better [at basketball] than I [am]. Than is a subordinating conjunction introducing a clause whose subject should be in the nominative case; the clause serves as adverbial modifier of better, in many instances with the full clause suppressed and only the conjunction and pronoun actually spoken or written. In Casual, Impromptu, and some Informal use, however, you will also find He is better [at basketball] than me, where than is construed as a preposition, with its object properly accusative. The prepositional phrase then is an adverbial modifier of better. My sister is better at math than me is Casual and Impromptu, and appropriate only at those levels and in their written imitations. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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