Tomato Nation » The Vine: April 11, 2007

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The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

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The Vine: April 11, 2007

Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on April 11, 2007 – 8:31 AMNo Comment

Sarah,

I found your site through a Google search. Great article on usage, but it still leaves me with a question.

I’m writing a scene, and Zeus says to Roger (my main character): “Not only have you squandered the abundance of divine talents bestowed so graciously upon you by us gods at your birth, the arrogance and flippancy with which you’ve done so will no longer be tolerated.” To which Roger replies: “You should’ve said ‘we gods,’ not ‘us gods.'” I’m pretty sure Zeus is right. What’s the verdict?

Thanks and I’ve bookmarked your site.

Van

Dear Van,

Zeus is right. The entire phrase is “by us gods,” which makes “gods” the object of a preposition; therefore, any word modifying “gods” needs to be an objective (or accusative) modifier. “We” is a subjective/nominative, so it’s not correct here.

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