Objective Advice

Okay, people, get ready for a grammar lesson because Fio is sick and tired of hearing people messing up when it comes to objective pronouns.  This is how it works: the subject pronouns I, we, he, she, and they change to the forms me, us, him, her and them when they are direct objects, indirect objects, or objects of the preposition. And if there is a second pronoun, IT ALSO USES THE OBJECTIVE FORM.

Mary saw me         Mary gave me the book          Mary gave the book to me
Mary saw us          Mary gave us the book            Mary gave the book to us                                           Mary saw him       Mary gave him the book          Mary gave the book to him
Mary saw her        Mary gave her the book          Mary gave the book to her
Mary saw them     Marry gave them the book      Mary gave the book to them

AND

Mary saw me and/or us/him/her/them   
Mary saw us and/or me/him/her/them.  
Mary saw him and/or me/us/her/them. 
Mary saw her and/or me/us/him/them.   
Mary gave them and/or me/us/him/her.

Mary gave me and/or us/him/her the book.
Mary gave us and/or me/him/her the book
Mary gave him and/or me/us/her the book.
Mary gave her and/or me/us/him/them the book

Mary gave the book to me and/or us/him/her/them.
Mary gave the book to us and/or me/him/her/them,
Mary gave the book to him and/or me/us/her/them.
Mary gave the book to her and/or me/us/him/them.
Mary gave the book to them and/or me/us/him/her.

Languages,Languages, Languages

Has Fio told you she's trying to learn Spanish by semi-immersion? She started by watching Univision, a Spanish-language station, every night to absorb the 's sounds and rhythm of the language, and now, with the help of Google Translator, she is trying to get everything in the house labeled so wherever she looks, she'll see the Spanish word for it. She's planning to post a color chart too.  And she's trying to build the habit of substituting Spanish words for English words when she can.

Of course, most of the words she's learning now are basic nouns, but she's pretty sure she can learn prepositions from context. And she already has a head start on pronouns because she lives in Texas. The verbs will be more problematical, but Fio will handle them in time if she keeps at it. That's what immersion is all about.

And just think--if Fio can master Spanish, she can bring her Russian back up to speed.  And her Latin.  And then there's Italian--and German--and Telugu--and Mandarin--and every other language Fio has ever wanted to speak. (You'll notice Fio left off French.  She could read it quite well at one time, but has no interest in learning how to mispronounce it at this point in her life.)



 

Linguisitic Puzzle

Fiorella is curious about which way the reduction of the English case system will go.  We've already subsumed the second singular thou into you, and now we are working on the first person.  Confusion reigns supreme right now, as in "Her and me are going to the store" or "Give it to she and I."