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Pronouns can be so confusing. Is this appropriate or is there a preferred structure other than this?

RegDwigнt
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  • After reading the title alone, I was thinking that the confusion was on the usage of "look forward to seeing you and Kate", which happens to be the correct usage. Non-native speakers are prone to the mistake of using "look forward to see you and Kate". – MediumOne Apr 05 '11 at 10:33
  • What about "Jamie and I are looking forward to..."? Would it be correct to use a present continuous? – José Tomás Tocino Apr 05 '11 at 11:58
  • Yes. It is still present continuous. Thanks for bringing this up. This is the instance when it gets most confusing. – MediumOne Apr 05 '11 at 12:02
  • @TheOm3ga : Your question makes me think - Can there ever be an instance of the phrasal verb "Look/looking forward to" followed by a form of verb other than present continuous? – MediumOne Apr 05 '11 at 12:20

1 Answers1

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Your sentence is perfectly correct. Jamie and I is right because it's a subject (Jamie and me is a common mistake) and you and Kate is correct too. Both are in a natural order, as well: it's common to put I, me, or myself last in a list and you or yourself either first or last. I and Jamie is correct but odd, and Kate and you sounds pretty strange; many people write something like Kate and yourself as an alternative.

Jon Purdy
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  • Nice - but is there a custom of putting ladies first, so "Kate and yourself" ? – JoseK Apr 05 '11 at 09:58
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    I think that sounds a bit contrived. There's no (modern, at least) custom of putting females first. – MSpeed Apr 05 '11 at 12:07
  • That alternative was the first thing to come to my mind as well. – sje397 Apr 05 '11 at 12:18
  • We place I last (as done in the question) because it then fits properly into its place in the sentence: (Jamie and) I look forward to seeing you and Kate since Jamie look forward to is grammatically incorrect. – Karl Apr 05 '11 at 13:03
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    @Karl: So are you suggesting "Karl and Jamie look forward to the match on Tuesday." would not be a correct sentence? Since there are two subjects in both examples, I doubt that motivation. – oKtosiTe Apr 05 '11 at 13:11
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    @oKtosiTe, of course you're right. I'm going to ask that you accept that I've had a long day and pretend that never happened... – Karl Apr 05 '11 at 13:20
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    @Karl: Pretend that what never happened? ;-) – oKtosiTe Apr 05 '11 at 13:36
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    I don't think Kate and yourself would be correct here, since yourself is a reflexive pronoun and, in this case you is not the agent doing the seeing, so a reflexive pronoun is inappropriate. – Dancrumb Apr 05 '11 at 13:52
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    In my experience, couples tend to have a commonly-used name order among their friends. I would just use that, unless it's a special occasion and you want to highlight one of the two for some reason. – msanford Apr 05 '11 at 13:53
  • @Dancrumb: The use of yourself and myself to stand for you and me in lists is contested but common, especially in formal or business speech in American English. I think people are uncomfortable saying you and me simply because they're rather short and sharp, even though they're preferable. – Jon Purdy Apr 07 '11 at 10:01
  • @Jon: I've heard them used in NE England in an attempt to sound more formal or 'posh'. I agree that it's commonly used. I think it's an unfortunate case of convention over correctness, but far be it from me to try and stifle the evolution of a whole language :o) – Dancrumb Apr 07 '11 at 23:03
  • JoseK, one would not say, "look forward to seeing Kate and yourself" because yourself is a reflexive pronoun (that is used obsessively lately and nearly always incorrectly). Only YOU can see "yourself". –  Jul 07 '11 at 02:20