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I am smarter than Jake, but he's richer than (me or I).

What should come as the object?

bookmanu
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1 Answers1

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As an object of the preposition than, it's me.

I am smarter than Jake, but he's richer than me.

Than can also function as a conjunction:

I am smarter than Jake, but he's richer than I am.

Am is often omitted but that is considered acceptable:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/01/24/is-it-now-acceptable-grammar-to-say-is-a-much-better-advocate-than-me-and-95-of-my-colleagues/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.43f144bedfcb

Alex_ander
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  • You start off by stating that the answer is me, then demonstrate it can also be I. It sounds like you're contradicting yourself, even though you aren't. I would suggest adding a sentence at the start that says it can be either, depending on how you interpret it. – Jason Bassford Aug 27 '18 at 11:16
  • The question was about the object (of the preposition than), so I started with that option. – Alex_ander Aug 27 '18 at 11:49
  • The whole point is that than me versus than I (am) is a question of colloquial/spoken English versus more formal spoken English. Also, there is no object of a preposition anywhere in the sentence. – Lambie Aug 27 '18 at 14:01
  • The pronoun me is the object of the preposition than in the first sentence, at least by this concept: https://www.thoughtco.com/object-of-a-preposition-op-1691447 – Alex_ander Aug 27 '18 at 14:14