"For us, Matt and I, it was about trying to really make the scenes when we were together and in love as honest as they could get." - Kate Hudson, on her work with co-star Matt Dillon in You, Me and Dupree
Kate has made a few errors in this quote. She has used a personal pronoun in the subjective case as the object of a preposition; she has misplaced a modifier and in doing so she has split an infinitive; and she has made an error in diction.
"Matt and I" is an appositive phrase that refers to the pronoun "us." Since "us" is the object of the preposition "for," "Matt and I" is the object of the preposition as well. To assist in determining the case of the first person pronoun, split the compound appositive and pair each part with the preposition.
- for Matt [This makes sense.]
- for I [This does not make sense.]
The first person pronoun "I" is in the subjective case. To correct the error, use the first person pronoun in the objective case.
The phrase "trying to really make the scenes" contains an adverb ("really") that splits an infinitive ("to make"). The use of split infinitives is quite controversial, as many grammarians and writers sanction their use in instances in which avoiding them would result in awkward or confusing syntax. Others believe that split infinitives should never be used under any circumstances and that sentences should be rewritten to avoid their use. Be aware that standardized examinations treat split infinitives as errors to be identified and corrected.
The issue in this case is not that the infinitive is split, but that the adverb "really" is modifying the wrong word. The possible meanings of the phrase "to really make the scenes" include:
- "to actually make the scenes" (as opposed to not making the scenes at all)
- "to truly and undeniably make the scenes" (which means that no one would be able to deny that the scenes were made)
Another meaning of "really" is "very; to a high degree." Kate probably meant to say that she and Matt wanted the scenes to be very honest. The use of the modifier "really" would therefore make more sense in a different position in the sentence:
- the scenes when we were together and in love as really honest as they could get
- the scenes when we were together and in love really as honest as they could get
Either option makes sense in this context. Another option would be to eliminate "really" from the sentence and allow "as honest as they could get" express the intensity of their efforts.
The adjective clause “when we were together and in love,” which modifies the noun "scenes," contains a poor choice of words. “Where” refers to a place, but scenes are things, not places. The phrase “in which” should be used to refer to a thing. This usage of “where” is common in colloquial speech and informal writing; however, the writers of standardized examinations and many English teachers consider this to be an error.
This revision of Kate's quote corrects the errors described above:
"For us, Matt and me, it was about trying to make the scenes in which we were together and in love as honest as they could get."
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