Taller Than He

Taller Than He Taller Than He Taller Than He By Maeve Maddox A reader questions the use of than him in the following statement: From 1970 on, his secretary Marie-Josà © Gros-Dubois, twenty years younger than him, was faithfully near his side. Asks the reader, Is this correct?or should it say â€Å"twenty years younger than he†? Whether than him is correct or not depends upon whether than is seen as a preposition or a conjunction. Since I cannot think of than as anything but a conjunction, the use of than him in this sentence strikes me as non-standard. The OED has listings for than as a demonstrative pronoun and as a conjunction, but not as a preposition. However, it does include a note about the use of than as a preposition and states that this use is now considered incorrect. Merriam-Webster, however, defends the use of than as a preposition. [than as a preposition is] used by speakers on all educational levels and by many reputable writers with the objective case form of the following pronoun when the first term in the comparison is the subject of a verb or the predicative complement after a copulative verb though disapproved by some grammarians except in the phrase than whom Bottom line: If youre writing for a British audience, dont ever write than him. If youre writing for an American audience, think twice about it. Written English is more conservative than spoken English. Speakers who think nothing of saying Shes taller than me in conversation may still cringe to see it in print. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:15 Terms for Those Who Tell the Future40 Fish IdiomsIf I Was vs. If I Were