No one but him? or no one but he? (examples, grammar, quote)

[blisterpeanuts]

(I thought I posted this already but I must have accidentally closed the tab, trying again)

I am working on a passage in a story that goes like this:

It had to be the Agency. No one but them could have tracked him down like this.

I have a nagging suspicion that it should be "No one but they". It just sounds more correct.

I found a discussion of this on wordreference.com. A person from England suggests that it depends on whether it is accusative or nominative.

I think that a point has been missed or at least not explicitly covered. The context often determines the usage.

Examples

I punched him and no-one but him. [accusative]

He, and no-one but he, informed the police. [nominative]

By this logic, my passage should be "no one but they" in this context. Am I wrong?

[saibot]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

(I thought I posted this already but I must have accidentally closed the tab, trying again)

I am working on a passage in a story that goes like this:

It had to be the Agency. No one but them could have tracked him down like this.

I have a nagging suspicion that it should be "No one but they". It just sounds more correct.

I found a discussion of this on wordreference.com. A person from England suggests that it depends on whether it is accusative or nominative.



By this logic, my passage should be "no one but they" in this context. Am I wrong?

You're correct. It should be "they." When in doubt, remove the confounding word or words:

No one could have tracked him down.
They could have tracked him down.
No one but they could have tracked him down.

[suzy_q2010]

I would just say "no one else".

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by suzy_q2010

I would just say "no one else".

Excellent suggestion. Still, I was curious.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

(I thought I posted this already but I must have accidentally closed the tab, trying again)

I am working on a passage in a story that goes like this:

It had to be the Agency. No one but them could have tracked him down like this.

I have a nagging suspicion that it should be "No one but they". It just sounds more correct.

I found a discussion of this on wordreference.com. A person from England suggests that it depends on whether it is accusative or nominative.



By this logic, my passage should be "no one but they" in this context. Am I wrong?

"No one but them" sounds better and is grammatically correct. "No one but they" is awkward. Using they would require a structure like "It had to be the Agency. They were the only ones that ..."

Here's a site with more information https://www.onestopenglish.com/ask-t...146352.article

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by WRM20

"No one but them" sounds better and is grammatically correct. "No one but they" is awkward. Using they would require a structure like "It had to be the Agency. They were the only ones that ..."

Here's a site with more information https://www.onestopenglish.com/ask-t...146352.article

You were led into the poetic fallacy trap. "The agency" is singular, and not a person or persons but a non-gendered word for an organization. The proper word to use would be "it."

(Your site reference is not great, as it disputes itself on use of verbs with a singular "they.")

[CA4Now]

Similar to the "This is she" vs. "This is her" debate.

Is she speaking, or is her speaking?