- He was pretty emphatic about me leaving.
- He was pretty emphatic about my leaving.
Which is correct, and why?
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
A purist would say: His emphasis was about an act of leaving. What act of leaving? My act. Therefore, my leaving.
But “me leaving” is also very common, and can (at least sometimes) be defended by an alternate analysis: He was emphatic about me, and the leaving modifies me. Then it must be a participle, rather than a gerund as in my first version.
-
"My leaving" and "me leaving" are both subordinate clauses with "my/ me" as subject and "leaving" as the predicate verb phrase. There's no semantic difference between the two, other than the fact that genitive "my" is more formal then accusative "me".– BillJCommented Nov 28, 2022 at 7:56
-
-
An NP has a noun as head, while a clause has a verb as head. "My/me leaving" has the verb "leaving" as head and thus is clause. It has nothing to do with possession, as in "my book", which would be an NP.– BillJCommented Nov 29, 2022 at 7:57
-
my leaving has more to do with possession than my neighbor. How is it not a noun phrase? Is a gerund not a noun? — The head of me leaving is me, just as the head of a duck carrying a flag is duck. Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 8:09
-
1I would recommend not opening with an assumption that the other party agrees with your conclusion (that me leaving is “clearly” a clause despite not containing a finite verb). – Tell me more about this absolute initial position. Would you say “He was about baseball very serious”? I certainly would not; is that evidence that baseball is not a noun? Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 2:38
[1] He was pretty emphatic about [me leaving].
[2] He was pretty emphatic about [my leaving].
They are both correct and have the same meaning. "My leaving" and "me leaving" are both subordinate participial clauses with "my/me" as subject and "leaving" as the predicate verb phrase.
The only difference is that genitive "my" is more formal than accusative "me".
