Than I
versus Than Me.
Than, as used in comparatives, has traditionally been considered a
conjunction; as such, if you're comparing subjects, the
pronouns after
than should take the "
subjective case." In other words, "He's taller than
I," not "He's taller than
me"; "She's smarter than
he," not "She's smarter than
him." If, on the other hand, you're comparing direct or indirect objects, the pronouns should be objective: "I've never worked with a more difficult client than
him."
There are some advantages to this traditional state of affairs. If you observe this distinction, you can be more precise in some comparisons. Consider these two sentences:
- He has more friends than I. (His total number of friends is higher than my total number of friends.)
- He has more friends than me. (I'm not his only friend; he has others.)
The problem, though, is that in all but the most
formal contexts, "than I" sounds stuffy, even
unidiomatic. Most people, in most contexts, treat
than as a
preposition, and put all following pronouns in the
objective case, whether the things being compared are subjects or objects. "He's taller
than me" sounds more natural to most native English speakers.