"than I" vs. "than me" [duplicate]

Question

1. Between you and me Suhani is intelligent.

2. Neither he nor his brother can walk faster than me.

3. Whom did you mean to hurt by your unkind remarks except Sita and me?

In these sentence book uses me (objective form of I). But I find one more sentence from book which uses I(not me).

4. Your husband doesn't believe that you are older than I.

In sentence 2 after preposition than it uses me while in sentence 4 its uses I after than. why? I think there should be I(instead of me) in sentence 3 and me(instead of I) in sentence 4. But i know I am wrong. I am confused with use of me and I. So please help me to understand this.

Answer 1

While all the other answers seem to focus on why it's than I or than me, I don't think this helps most people in everyday life such as in a conversation—they seem a little difficult to be used on the fly.

In a sentence, some words are often omitted, and the trick is not to do that. Just make the sentence as long as possible, and you'll see it's actually quite easy:

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Than I / he / she:

He is better than I (am).

She is taller than he (is).

He knows more than she (knows).

Note: this may sound a little formal to some.

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Than me / him / her:

She'd rather choose her than (she'll choose) me.

I like her more than (I like) him.

I'm more likely to give him a reward, than (I'll give it to) her.

Answer 2

Native speakers have been arguing about this for centuries. There are two schools of thought.

The conjunction theory

The conjunction theory, most famously advocated by Robert Lowth (1710–1787), claims that than is a conjunction that introduces a new clause with its own subject. So, you say:

He can walk faster than I can walk.

For brevity, you can omit the repeated can walk:

He can walk faster than I.

Since I is the subject of the omitted verb, it should be in the subjective case. Therefore the objective case, as in "He can walk faster than me," is nonsense, quod erat demonstrandum.

The preposition theory

The preposition theory says that than can serve as a conjunction or as a preposition, whichever you need. When used as a preposition, its object naturally takes the objective case:

He can walk faster than me.

The arguments

As far as I know, no blood has ever been spilled over this dispute, but it has been surprisingly acrimonious.

Advocates of the conjunction theory claim that logic is on their side, as well as prior usage such as the phrase holier than thou, which appears in the King James Bible. One argument in favor of the conjunction theory is that the choice of subjective or objective case makes a useful distinction if than is always regarded as a conjunction. For example, “Priya likes chapatis more than I” is short for “Priya likes chapatis more than I like chapatis” while “Priya likes chapatis more than me” is short for “Priya likes chapatis more than she likes me.”

Advocates of the preposition theory claim that logic is on their side, as well as convenience and prior usage in such authoritative writers as Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson (see the Wikipedia article or a book on grammar myths).

Advocates of the preposition theory like to point out that the same people who advocate the conjunction theory also advocate other grammar myths such as the “rule” against ending a sentence with a preposition and the “rule” against splitting an infinitive. Perhaps this is an ad hominem fallacy, and perhaps it’s an insight into something very misguided deep in the minds of the conjunction-theory advocates.

You must take sides

Since you are learning English as a foreign language, you probably would prefer to stay out of a debate about such a small point of grammar, affecting only about six words in the entire language. Sorry, that is not an option. You must choose a side. Once you say faster than I or faster than me, everyone will know which side you're on. The room will turn silent. People will look at each other with knowing glances. Friends who favor the other side will probably shun you for life when they find out. Friends who favor the side you've chosen will feel a new and enriched bond of loyalty to you.*

Let me close, then, by mentioning that I favor the preposition theory, and so should you.

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^{* Don’t think you can weasel out of this by always spelling out the implied clause explicitly. That will avoid making a choice, but you’ll soon find it verbose and tiresome. And no one likes a waffler.}

Answer 3

Well, I will start with some basics instead of delving into the main point straight away.

There are some words in English Vocabulary that can act like a preposition as well as a conjunction.

After a preposition grammar insists that we use the objective form, for example me (Objective form of I)

Stop chasing after me.

And after a conjunction, we should have a whole clause. Basically the function of a conjunction is to connect two or more clauses, sentences and words.

You and I are from the same generation.

It was written by me and him.

Note - If you are not sure which form of pronoun (objective or subjective), please use the pronoun on its own with the conjunction removed. And you will find the correct form to be used. For example in the sentence - It was written by him and me - if you are unsure whether to use "me" or "I" after "and", please remove "and", and the sentence will come down to "It was written by me", not "It was written by I". So the correct form to use after "and" here in this case is "me".

Ours dresses are the same except mine is red. (Here the conjunction except joins a clause - mine is red)

The words - except and than - both can be used as a conjunction as well as preposition. So you have to decide whether to use objective form or the subjective form of pronoun after them accordingly.

But there is some special usage note to consider when it comes to than.

Note - Grammarians have insisted that than should be regarded as a conjunction in all its uses. So that a sentence such as Bill is taller than Tom should be construed as an elliptical version of the sentence Bill is taller than Tom is.

He is taller than I (This sentence is the elliptical version of He is taller than I am)

According to this view, the case of a pronoun following than is determined by whether the pronoun serves as the subject or object of the verb that is "understood."

But the rule allows the following sentence -

The news surprised Starun008 more than me. (It should be than me, not than I like the other example above. What is the reason? It's also simple. This concerned sentence is the elliptical version of The news surprised Starun008 more than it surprised me)

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One major difference between you and me - there are no doubt many others - is that I use both cameras. (between is preposition, and so we need to use me, not I)

Neither he nor his brother can walk faster than I. (The elliptical version is Neither he nor his brother can walk faster than I can)

Whom did you mean to hurt by your unkind remarks except Sita and me? (correct. except is being used as a preposition here. So using I would be wrong)

Your husband doesn't believe that you are older than I. (The elliptical version is Your husband doesn't believe that you are older than I am)

Answer 4

The Oxford Guide to English Grammar by John Eastwood has it in short form in paragraph 221.4 and 221.5

"than" + nominative (I, we etc.) When a phrase/ clause follows:

1 The motel was less expensive than I had expected.

"than" + single personal pronoun in object form:

2 The other teams played better than us.

My remark: The variant 2 is often avoided by repeating the verb to be/to do as substitute of a normal verb:

3 He is taller than I am.

4 He speaks English better than I do.

Answer 5

True, even I see both the styles (older than me/I) but I think to avoid ambiguity, you should use either 'me' or 'I am'

Your husband doesn't believe that you are older than me.

If you don't love ellipses, you go like this -

Your husband doesn't believe that you are older than I am.

But then, in sentence three, you are an object, so 'me' stands correct there.

About me and I, there are many questions here on ELL. Search for the term and read the answers. They are very useful.