# Another Grammar Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785 "2015-03-23T16:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/1 "2015-03-23T16:28:49Z")
“Among those who passed me…” “Among they who passed me…” “Among them who passed me…” I can think of reasons to support any of the above. “Those” being elliptical for “those people;” “they” being the co-subject of “passed me;” and “them” as “Among” is a preposition and “who” is the subject of a dependent modifying clause. “Them” does not sound right. “Those” seems right. But “they” sounds better to my ear. ---
**Author:** ![Vaevictis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/2 "2015-03-23T17:27:12Z")
I think ‘Among those who passed me’ is fine. ‘Among they’ sounds like some lame non-standard usage. So unless you are around folks regularly talking like that you will have trouble conveying your meaning. Among them is fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/3 "2015-03-23T17:38:58Z")
"Those who failed [the exam] will have to re-sit. Never, “Them who failed” or “They who failed.” ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/4 "2015-03-23T18:58:59Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > "Those who failed [the exam] will have to re-sit. > > Never, “Them who failed” or “They who failed.” Well, sure. “Those who failed,” being short for “Those people who failed.” And “Them who failed,” obviously, but what if you add a preposition, as I did? “Among them who failed”? I do not think that’s correct but does not sound as wrong as it follows a preposition. OTOH, “They who failed” does not sound so incorrect, as “they” can be the co-subject with “who.” You have given me conclusions but no reason as to which one is correct and which two are incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/5 "2015-03-23T20:04:42Z")
I am not a grammar expert (though I did get pretty good at diagramming sentences back in freshman English class), but I believe that the object of the preposition “among” is the _phrase_ “those who failed.” “Among those who failed” is the only one of the three that sounds right to me, but I couldn’t give you a formal justification. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/6 "2015-03-23T22:24:19Z")
“They” is simply wrong (object of preposition, who is the subject of failed), “them” sounds awkward but is not wrong. “Those” is normal usage. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/7 "2015-03-23T22:57:52Z")
Are “them” and “those” actually different parts of speech? IOW, is there any instance when one would be correct, but not the other? Those [people] simply means “them”, no? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/8 "2015-03-23T22:58:41Z")
> [@Rudyard Kipling](#): > > Them that takes cakes > Which the Parsee-man bakes > Makes dreadful mistakes. [How The Rhinoceros Got His Skin](http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/rhino.htm). ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grammar-question/715785/9 "2015-03-24T19:39:22Z")
That’s poetic license.