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lhasa
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:16 am Post subject: Grammar |
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Anything wrong with this?:
"In this case, the next generation is my friends and I."
Thank you |
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halfmanhalfbiscuit
Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:32 am Post subject: |
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Generation might be another one of those "singular or plural collective nouns" (if that's the right term) eg family, government, council, team etc.
In which case, UK English-are and I guess US English-is.
I'd use "are" |
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wawawawonder

Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:55 am Post subject: |
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I'd say "is" myself (and I am from the UK)
It should be "me and my friends" or "my friends and me". This use of "I" is ubiquitous nowadays but wrong, particularly if you are writing.
Suggestion- "My friends and I are the next generation"? |
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blackjack

Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:42 am Post subject: |
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wawawawonder wrote: |
me and my friends" |
This bugs me. I was all was taught "my friends and I", or "my friends and me". That you always put yourself last (manners?). Whenever I hear me and my friends it just grates on my ears a little.
Is there a rule about this? |
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iggyb
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:06 am Post subject: |
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I just finished an MA in Teaching English and several of the profs were anti-grammar evangelicals...They attacked all the time how much time teachers in the US in middle and high school spend on grammar as rules rather than using the language.
I think the sentence is correct. I'd avoid the confusion by changing it to "In this case, the members of the next generation are my friends and I."
I'd probably also change it to "In this case, my friends and I are the next generation."
That is something people would actually say, and these days, that is pretty much what most texts would write. It would be a stuffy and dusty outlet that would use the original sentence, so why teach it?...
(See...my profs converted me well...) |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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No, it sounds completely wrong to me.
...the next generation is made up of me and my friends (OK)
...My friends and I are the next generation. (OK)
The way you have it worded just clangs in my ears. I'm sure some grammarian will verify that it is grammatically OK, but it sure doesn't sound natural. I am Canadian by the way. |
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iggyb
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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One of my profs that was anti-grammar said that English grammar today was established in the mid to late 19th century by imposing Roman grammar onto the English language... |
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