it's him or it's he?
Moderator: Alan
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it's him or it's he?
This is really confusing for me because most american movies use "it's him" and "it's her". But when i read a grammar book, it says there that it should be "it's he" and "it's she". "It's me" is also not acceptable by the book that i read. According to the book, "it's I" is the correct usage. Please let me know what is the correct usage for these. Thank you.
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[It is + nominative pronoun] is generally regarded nowadays as hyperformal, and its use, even in written English, tends to be restricted to cases where the pronoun is followed by a relative clause, as in
It is I who am to blame.
contrasting with informal
(*)It's me that's to blame.
You are unlikely to be criticized by anybody - except the most ardent, dyed-in-the-wool purist - for saying, or even writing, It's me rather than It's I. Indeed the juxtaposition of inherently informal contraction it's with formal 'I' would even strike most speakers as rather ludicrous!
It is I who am to blame.
contrasting with informal
(*)It's me that's to blame.
You are unlikely to be criticized by anybody - except the most ardent, dyed-in-the-wool purist - for saying, or even writing, It's me rather than It's I. Indeed the juxtaposition of inherently informal contraction it's with formal 'I' would even strike most speakers as rather ludicrous!