To "me" or not to "me", that is the question

[pne]

I'm in a bit of a quandary right now as to what kind of grammar to use around Amy when it comes to subject vs. object forms of pronouns.

The thing is, I was taught to use the subject form ("I, he, she") in certain constructions, but it seems to me that the object form ("me, him, her") is more natural to a large number of native English speakers.

The subject form is more correct according to conservative, prescriptive grammar; it also matches with what German (which inflects more strongly than English) does. But I wonder whether I should use this form or whether it's dated and unnatural.

The classic example is comparison statements. Does one say "He is bigger than me but she is exactly as big as me" or "He is bigger than I but she is exactly as big as I"? (There is, of course, also "He is bigger than I am but she is exactly as big as I am", where I think everyone uses the subject form of the pronouns, but that seems rather stilted to me, too, as the default form.)

Another example: Amy showed me a picture she had drawn in kindergarten and explained to me who the people on it were: "This is Anne and that am I and that is Nea". Fine in German ("das bin ich") but not only is the verb wrong for English (I think), the pronoun form is also questionable. I think it should be "...and that's ___" (with "is" rather than "are") but I'm not sure whether to say "and that's me" or "and that is I".

And a final, also classic example: responses such as "Who wants some cake? — Me!" or "Who spilt the orange juice? — Not me!", where conservative grammar would have "I" in each case (and German would have "ich").

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What do you think? "I" or "me" in that sort of sentence?

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And because I like polls: what is the most natural/spontaneous form you would use in the following constructions?

[Poll #1365332]

Comments

[nik-w.livejournal.com]

That's interesting - I'm trying to learn Norwegian but I very rarely see "meg" - it's almost always "jeg". I guess learning materials do tend to prefer a more traditional/formal approach to things. Can "meg" always be used to replace "jeg"? If not, could you give me a few examples of when it can and can't be used?:)

[mummimamma.livejournal.com]

No, sorry, I meant just in sentences like these, sentences that starts with a presentation like "det er..." "det er meg" and after comparisions "Pål er større enn meg".

"Jeg" is still the standard subjectform, (and in some dialect it has also supplanted the objectforms. On the other hand, in some dialects the objectforms have supplanted the subjectforms. I never say the objectforms ham/henne, although I may write it, I use han/hon - but this is another long and confusing lecture on dialects in Norway :)

ETA: Which you now can read a bit about above.

[nik-w.livejournal.com]

Interesting - a little too complicated for my current level, but still interesting!:) I have heard lots of stories about the variations in dialects - one of my friends is from Trondheim, lives in Oslo, is married to a girl who is from another part of the country (don't know exactly where - I know it's a mountainous region, and is about 2 hours from Oslo, but that hardly narrows it down much!:p), and travels all over the country with work, so I can barely understand a word he says!

Last time I was over there, I saw some guys who looked and sounded somewhat unusual - their speech sounded like Norwegian but with a lot of words I couldn't pick out (not that I can pick out much at the best of times). I thought they might be Swedish, but I was assured by another friend "no, they're not Swedish, they're from Trondheim, but there's not much difference" (and he's from Trondheim himself!!