1. Gobbledygook5000

    Gobbledygook5000 New Member

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    Just a quick grammar question

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Gobbledygook5000, Feb 16, 2013.

    Alright can someone give me the correct word for this sentence:

    "He knows that few men alive have more experience with (random noun) than _____ ."

    So, in the ______ I want to refer to the same He at the beginning of the sentence.

    Should I use:

    a. hisself
    b. himself
    c. he

    Thanks!
     
  2. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    Definitely not a. I would say either "himself" or "he does".
     
  3. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    'himself' alone would be poor grammar...

    yes, it calls for 'he does' in the blank...
     
  4. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    See, this is why I come here :D
     
  5. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    "He knows that few men alive have more experience..."
    I would say "than he has".
     
  6. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    ok, that's probably better...
     
  7. AchiraC

    AchiraC New Member

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    I believe that for extra emphasis, you could try 'than he himself does'. That would not be my first choice, but it makes it very clear who you're referring to.
     
  8. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    This makes little sense to me, although it is the kind of thing you might find in dialogue. Mind you, if we're getting into what people say, you can have "hisself", but since the OP specifically wanted to know the correct grammar I guess we should stick to standard English.

    I've noticed that Word spell and grammer check throws an absolute wobbly if I ever dare to use "himself/herself", even if I use the word in a situation which I know is correct, e.g. "He cleaned the car himself."
     
  9. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    in that case, mad, as an editor i'd red-line you, too...'he cleaned the car' says it all, 'himself' is redundant... however, if you must use 'himself' then you need to stick something like 'all by' in there, to make it legit grammatically... that said, if it's dialog, then of course anything goes and people do say stuff like that...
     
  10. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    And you'd get a big "STET!" back from me! Sure, "himself" is redundant, but it's simply a rhetorical pleonasm, not a grammatical error. Fowler allows it.
     
  11. writingadvice@ymail.com

    writingadvice@ymail.com New Member

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    I would likely do a rewrite of the sentence to make more sense.

    Also, just as a side note . . . "alright" is actually "all right."
     

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