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In English Grammar in Use 5th Edition, on page 224, it's written that "We do not use even + subject + verb" but at the top of the page there is an examplary sentence;

"These pictures are really awful. Even I take better pictures."

"I" is a subject and "take" is a verb so the structure is even+subject+verb but at the bottom of the page the book says it's incorrect to write even+subject+verb.

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    The book is wrong. In your example "even" modifies "I".
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 8:19
  • What @BillJ said. Even I can understand that.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 13:44
  • The utterance Even I take better pictures requires an antecedent (for comparative "better" to refer back to). But Even a king cannot cheat death doesn't require any antecedent (simply that the audience be aware that "a king" is a very powerful person who can do many things that ordinary mortals can't do). That's to say, even [statement] always implies some kind of explicit or implicit contrast (He takes pictures, but I take better ones; A king is very powerful, but he isn't immortal).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 14:06

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Your book isn't exactly wrong, it is just suggesting a rule that doesn't exist instead of explaining when you can and cannot use 'even' this way.

It would be wrong to begin speaking with a statement like this:

Even I take good pictures.

We would instead say something like:

I take good pictures, surprisingly.

In your example, although "even I take better pictures" is a complete sentence, it is clearly a follow-up statement. It even uses a comparative adjective 'better', so it could not stand on its own. It is dependent on the previous sentence.

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  • @astralbee Isn't ''the pictures'' the object in ''Even I take better pictures.'' ?
    – user138449
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 11:07
  • @orhantorun Yes! I thought from your question you were suggesting "I" was the subject, given that your book said "even + subject" was wrong?
    – Astralbee
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 14:08
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    The subject is "I". "Better pictures" is object of "take"
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 15:28
  • @BillJ In "I take better pictures" the subject would certainly be "I". But, as the OP's source tries to say, adding "even" to the beginning would not make a statement that stands alone. It is only acceptable as a continuation of the previous statement where the pictures are definitely the subject. These really need to be viewed as a whole.
    – Astralbee
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 20:36
  • The point is that your statement "Arguably, the subject is still 'the pictures" is wrong. In the sentence "Even I take better pictures" the subject can only be "I" irrespective of any situational considerations. The OP's book says "We do not use even + subject + verb", which (if it was correct) would be a grammatical rule.
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 2, 2022 at 7:14

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