究竟是than I还是than me，怎么解释？ - 英语教学法原著选读119

朋友们：

上周实在太忙，所以偷偷偷了一回懒，没有更新，不少朋友关心，发来消息，感谢大家！本周老老实实该更新更新了，请大家放心，我很好。

今天选的是语言学泰斗、教学法专家George Yule的《教学法丛书之八 如何教授英语语法》中的一个有趣的小片段，谈到He runs faster than I.和He runs faster than me.两句话究竟哪个对的问题。Yule说，这两个句子都对。

前一个句子相当于He runs faster than I do.——我要补充一下：如果要说than me，那就应该是She likes her brother better than (she likes) me.

后一个句子和He runs faster than ten miles per hour.相类比，既然than能够带宾语（ten miles per hour），那就能跟me。感觉这个说法也有道理。

有趣的是，持后一种观点的朋友认为，“既然大多数人都这么说，那这个说法就是对的。”Yule说，这种观点就是语法研究中的“描述视角”，the descriptive perspective，和“规定派”（the prescriptive）基本上是对立的。

其他内容，请朋友们自行阅读下文。

For one English speaker (let’s call him Bert), it may be extremely important that an example such as [5a] should be treated as the only acceptable form and that a version such as [5b] should be unacceptable as good English.

[5]

a. Mary can run faster than I.

b. Mary can run faster than me.

The issue here is the correct form of the pronoun (I or me). Bert may insist that what is expressed in [5] is a version of Mary can run faster than I can run. This full version shows that the pronoun (I) is the subject of can run and that me would not be grammatical in the structure (i.e. *me can run). Therefore, says Bert, [5b] is ungrammatical and bad English.

Another speaker (let’s call him Ernie) might respond that me sounds just fine in [5b] and seems to be the form that most people use in this structure. Bert is presenting a prescriptive argument (i.e. how it should be used) and Ernie is offering a descriptive argument (i.e. how it generally seems to be used). This type of discussion may be what is often associated with the topic of English grammar, but there will be very little of it in this book. In a case like this, we will be more concerned with explaining how both structures can be used in English.

In the particular case of example [5], it is possible to provide a reasonable explanation for both structures. To do so, we should consider a related structure that English speakers use, as shown in [6].

[6]

Mary can run faster than ten miles per hour.

Looking at example [6], we can see that the basis of Bert’s explanation (i.e. *Mary can run faster than ten miles per hour can run) is not appropriate here. The expression ten miles per hour is not the subject of can run, but an object following than. The word than seems to be used in [6], and also in [5b], as a preposition. After prepositions, English tends to have object pronouns (me, him) rather than subject pronouns (I, he). For Ernie, preferring [5b], the word than can be used as a preposition. However, for Bert, preferring [5a], the word than is being used as a conjunction, that is, a form that connects two clauses, and the pronoun I is the subject of the second clause. From this perspective, both Ernie and Bert are right. Grammatically speaking, neither form is better English than the other.