Celebrity English

"Fatherhood only changes you if you allow it to change you. I kind of avoided changing me for a while. I just know that I have somebody who, for the first time in my life, I'm in love with, and it's going to last." - Colin Farrell, in OK Magazine

Colin has made two pronoun errors. He has also used a colloquialism that is considered to be an error by the writers of standardized examinations.

In the clause "I kind of avoided changing me," the pronoun "me" is the object of the gerund "changing." While "me" is in the objective case, its use in this context would be acceptable only if someone else were the subject of the clause. Since the subject and the object of the gerund refer to the same person, the object of the gerund should be a reflexive pronoun. To correct this error, replace the objective first person pronoun "me" with the reflexive first person pronoun "myself."

The adjective clause "who, for the first time in my life, I'm in love with" contains a relative pronoun in the incorrect case. Follow these steps to determine which relative pronoun to use in this context:

1. Remove the intervening phrase "for the first time in my life."

• who I'm in love with

2. Rearrange the words so that the subject is at the beginning of the clause.

• I'm in love with who

3. Replace the subjective relative pronoun "who" with the subjective personal pronoun "he."

• I'm in love with he

4. Recognize that the use of a subjective pronoun as the object of the preposition "with" does not make sense. Replace the subjective personal pronoun with an objective personal pronoun.

• I'm in love with him

5. Replace the objective personal pronoun with an objective relative pronoun.

• I'm in love with whom

6. Rearrange the words and insert the intervening phrase.

• whom, for the first time in my life, I'm in love with

The phrase "kind of" is very common in everyday speech, and Colin's use of this colloquialism is perfectly acceptable in this informal context. However, this phrase (and the similar phrase "sort of") may appear on standardized examination questions and you will be expected to identify it as an error in diction. Depending on the context, possible alternatives for this phrase include "somewhat," "rather," "to a degree," and "quite." The use of these adverbs can make speech and writing sound extremely formal ("I rather avoided changing myself"). Rearranging the syntax to accommodate these adverbs in a less formal manner may result in either a change in meaning or confusion (in the clause "I avoided changing myself somewhat," the adverb "somewhat" can modify "avoided" or "changing myself"). Possibly the least formal and clearest way to avoid the use of "kind of" in this sentence is to insert "to a certain degree" at the beginning of the sentence.

This revision of Colin's statement corrects the two pronoun errors and avoids the use of the colloquial phrase "kind of":

"To a certain degree, I avoided changing myself for a while. I just know that I have somebody whom, for the first time in my life, I'm in love with, and it's going to last."