J. Jones Wrote:
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> For "It is I," there is a part of the sentence
> that is not spoken, but with a context understood
> by both speakers. Example: "Who is it?" "It is I
> (knocking at the door)" or "It is I (entering the
> room)," etc. So I is the subject of the unspoken
> phrase.
This doesn’t work well as an explanation, for me at least. "Who(m) did he see?" "He saw me (knocking at the door)", "He took a picture of me (entering the room)", etc. “He saw I knocking at the door” is teeth-cringingly horrible, for most of us at least. "It’s me, knocking at the door” is any amount better. The reason for "It is I" has to be independent of the "knocking at the door" construction.
fwiw is there anybody out there who would still most naturally say “It is (just) we” rather than “It’s (just) us”? Or “It’s (just) they”? (I thought not.)
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> For "It is I," there is a part of the sentence
> that is not spoken, but with a context understood
> by both speakers. Example: "Who is it?" "It is I
> (knocking at the door)" or "It is I (entering the
> room)," etc. So I is the subject of the unspoken
> phrase.
This doesn’t work well as an explanation, for me at least. "Who(m) did he see?" "He saw me (knocking at the door)", "He took a picture of me (entering the room)", etc. “He saw I knocking at the door” is teeth-cringingly horrible, for most of us at least. "It’s me, knocking at the door” is any amount better. The reason for "It is I" has to be independent of the "knocking at the door" construction.
fwiw is there anybody out there who would still most naturally say “It is (just) we” rather than “It’s (just) us”? Or “It’s (just) they”? (I thought not.)