Hi, Michael!  Recently you wrote in a message to Mark Lewis:

 ML>  the rule is something like this...
 ML>   I did something. me can't do anything.

 MD>  So is "I can't do anything" wrong?


           Grammatically it's quite correct.  I might disagree if I thought you
 were underestimating your abilities, however....  :-)

           What I hear Mark saying is that the word "me" indicates the receiver
 of an action, not the person who caused the action.


            Subject (nominative case in Latin, German, and ???)

                 I, we
                 thou or you, you
                 he, she, it, they


            Direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition

                 me, us
                 thee or you, you
                 him, her, them


           Because Anton & I enjoy playing with archaic language you may notice
 exceptions from time to time.  I often say "methinks", e.g., but very few
other people do that nowadays.  Similarly, I have listed the singular "thou" &
"thee" for the sake of completeness.  But I must warn you that while both are
still in occasional use not everybody who uses them in fun understands the
grammar.  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)