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No one but her ever made a perfect score on the test. Why we use her and not she?

TeamA1
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  • Related, possible duplicate: faster than him/he – Andrew Leach Feb 18 '16 at 11:49
  • But is a preposition meaning except (for) and a preposition takes the objective case (me, him, her, them, etc) as its complement. "Can you live without me / her" vs "Can you live without I / she". –  Feb 18 '16 at 12:11
  • @Rathony: do you have any evidence with this statement? Usage seems to differ. Clearly, without is a preposition that works this way, but is but? – Peter Shor Feb 18 '16 at 12:16
  • @PeterShor I have a different Ngram Viewer. That's a principle and that's why I put it as a comment. In your examples for no one but he, there are some cases where but was used as a conjunction separating two different clauses and some cases where he was modified by a subjective relative clause. –  Feb 18 '16 at 12:24
  • @Rathony: your Ngram is also flawed: "no one but her" could be an object, as in "I will marry no one but her", in which case you need to use the objective case. If you capitalize "No one", you will see that traditionally it was "she", but lately "her" has seen an increase in use. – Peter Shor Feb 18 '16 at 12:26
  • @PeterShor Your example has this sentence, "He announced his intentions “to spare no one” but he feared the enemy". –  Feb 18 '16 at 12:28
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    @Rathony: My Ngram has a capitalized "N", so would not pick up that sentence. When you click on the actual hits, it doesn't distinguish between capitals and lower-case Your Ngram picks up instances like "no one but her mother". – Peter Shor Feb 18 '16 at 12:31
  • @PeterShor If you have a different opinion, please write an answer. Since I knew my answer can't be a comprehensive answer, I decided to post it as a comment. I agree that Ngram is flawed. –  Feb 18 '16 at 12:33
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    @PeterShor I think the question is 100% duplicate, “She” or “her” following “no one but”? and Barrie Engliand seems to agree with me. –  Feb 18 '16 at 12:35
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    @Rathony: Shakespeare doesn't: "No, my good lords, it is not that offends; It is not that that hath incensed the duke: It is, because no one should sway but he; No one but he should be about the king. " I think the right answer is that both usages are acceptable. – Peter Shor Feb 18 '16 at 12:37
  • @PeterShor I respectfully disagree with you. The poster seems to be a learner and I don't think it is appropriate to say that both usages are OK since Shakespeare used it 400 years ago. –  Feb 18 '16 at 12:44
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    @Rathony: My Ngram clearly shows that people are still using it. I'll try to find some good examples. – Peter Shor Feb 18 '16 at 12:48
  • Also related, possible duplicate: “Nobody will help you but me” vs. “Nobody will help you but I” – FumbleFingers Feb 18 '16 at 12:50
  • @PeterShor I agree with the conjunction analysis but find it interesting how seldom we find be concurring in person after No one but I am... compared with No one but me is.... – tchrist Feb 18 '16 at 13:15
  • Yes ... No one but I am sounds wrong, because you don't say no one am. – Peter Shor Feb 18 '16 at 13:23

1 Answers1

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The short answer is: She is a subjective personal pronoun whereas her is a objective personal pronoun.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "correct use of personal pronouns is one of the most debated areas of English usage." The common advice is to use the pronoun alone, or comparatively, to clarify which is correct. In my opinion, that advice relies upon a certain level of English language proficiency, the absence of which may well be the source of confusion.

Compare and Consider:

She is the only person to ever receive a perfect score on this test. (Correct)

Her is the only person to ever receive a perfect score on this test. (Incorrect)

Her test received a perfect score. No one else has ever received a perfect score on this test. (Correct)

She test received a perfect score. No one else has ever received a perfect score on this test. (Incorrect)

The Purdue Online Writing Lab provides excellent information regarding using pronouns clearly, pronoun case, and reflexive pronouns.

Your example is specifically one of pronoun case. OWL offers the following, "in compound structures, where there are two pronouns or a noun and a pronoun, drop the other noun for a moment. Then you can see which case you want."

My observation has been that personal pronouns are a common point of confusion, and thus frustration, that spans both native and non-native learners. This is compounded in my opinion for non-native learners coming from a language that provides clarity elsewise; Japanese for example, uses the particles ga and o to specify the subject and object and possessiveness, which allows them to move around within a sentence without substantial loss of clarity (Disclosure: I passed Japanese, but that was a long time ago and my comparison may be weak. Ironically, I found this use of particles somewhat frustrating.).

Corra
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