More about than

Last week's post explained that than, not then, should be used when making a comparison. The word than also causes confusion when a pronoun is used after it in the comparison. Writers tend to use the incorrect form of the pronoun because they treat than as if it were a preposition (which it isn't) and use the objective form of the pronoun.

Does that sound confusing? If you're not an English major, it might. You really don't have to memorize the cases of pronouns or remember the reason for using a particular case. You just need to remember the trick.

The problem arises because we leave out words when using a pronoun after than. The trick is to mentally insert them.

• Find the correct pronoun to use after than by mentally supplying the missing words.

The following example shows how we are tempted to express the camparison incorrectly:

Keith can type a lot faster than her. {incorrect!}

This may sound all right, but it's not. If you add the 'understood' words that have been left out, you will see why:

Keith can type a lot faster than she [can].

It may sound strange, but she is the correct form of the pronoun. When you supply the missing thought, her does not make sense.

Generally, the subjective form of the pronoun is the correct one since the objective form does not make sense. However, some sentences make sense with either form, but the form you use changes the meaning of the sentence.

I have know Jerry longer than he [has known Jerry].

I have known Jerry longer than [I have known] him.

In Brief: To use the correct pronoun after than, mentally supply the missing words.