as me

[navi]

Are these sentences correct:

1) He is in as good a shape as I am.
2) He is in as good a shape as I.
3) He is in as good a shape as me.

I think '3' is used, but would technically mean I am a shape.


--
Gratefully,
Navi

Lost in the Twilight Zone of the English language
Obsessed with ambiguity
Interested in strange structures

[jerryfriedman]

Post by navi
1) He is in as good a shape as I am.
2) He is in as good a shape as I.
3) He is in as good a shape as me.
I think '3' is used, but would technically mean I am a shape.

I'd delete "a" from all of them. I wouldn't say
2, though it's a possibility in traditional grammar.
Also in traditional grammar, I don't think 3 would
mean anything, though yes, many people use it,
including me.

--
Jerry Friedman

--

[Snidely]

Post by navi
1) He is in as good a shape as I am.
2) He is in as good a shape as I.
3) He is in as good a shape as me.
I think '3' is used, but would technically mean I am a shape.

2) is the least used, in my experience.

3) is used as if it was 1), and can be considered a set phrase but
often flagged as bad grammar.

/dps

[Garrett Wollman]

Post by navi
1) He is in as good a shape as I am.
2) He is in as good a shape as I.
3) He is in as good a shape as me.
I think '3' is used, but would technically mean I am a shape.

Traditionalists insist that the right-hand side of "as ... as" must be
parallel to the left-hand side, and thus require (1) but will
grudgingly accept (2) as an example of omitting a redundant verb
across a conjunction. A modern grammar would look at the corpus
evidence and say that "as ... as" can accept a complement in the
accusative case.

Traditionalists would also strike "a" in all three sentences. You
wouldn't say *"He is in a good shape"; this sense of "shape" is
anarthrous (does not permit an article). However, phrases of the form
"as ADJ a N as" are quite common and many people who object to the
article in writing probably say it that way anyway.

-GAWollman