"Better than us" or "Better than we"?

Question

My friend's mom said the phrase "better than us", and I corrected her that it is actually "better than we." She has been arguing with me about it ever since. She insists that it could either be "us" or "we are" but "we" is wrong. I told her that it could be "we" or "we are" but not "us". She still thinks that I'm wrong. I need some solid proof that I am correct, because it's starting to really annoy that my friend and her mom keep telling me I'm wrong, when I know I'm not. Please help! Thank you!

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I am going to be a little different and say that you are both correct.  Correct grammatical usage might be "better than we", but certainly commonly accepted usage would be "better than us".  I was not able to find any example in writing of "better than we" without "are" or some other verb after it.  I was able to find many examples in writing of "better than us".  To check my theory, try both in a word processing program with grammar check and see if it picks up any error.

Anonymous · Answer

You're friend's mom is correct. The subject is implied in the comparative sentence, therefor, you cannot use 'we', as that would be the subject pronoun. 'Us' is correct since it is the object pronoun. I hope this didn't mix you up any more but it is the truth.

BakaD · Answer

Your friend's mom is right.

"Better than we" is incorrect.  You can say "better than us," as in "She is better than us"—"us" is an object pronoun.  

Or you can say "She is better than we are," where "we" is a subject pronoun...but you should only use a subject pronoun if it's followed by a verb.

Anonymous · Answer

Well when I say it, I think that "better than us" and "better than we are" are sound correct.  "Better than we" sounds wrong grammatically.

Anonymous · Answer

i think your friends mom is right.
"better than us"
it sounds better.

"Better than us" or "Better than we"?

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