Is
It was me that Mr. Jones thought could do it.
correct?
Is that required between thought and could?
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1It was I that Mr. Jones thought could do it.– KrisCommented Jun 5, 2014 at 11:06
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...being a cleft structure built from 'Mr. Jones thought [that] I could do it'.– Edwin AshworthCommented Jun 5, 2014 at 11:08
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Isn't it either "It's me that" or "It's I who"?– julesCommented Jun 5, 2014 at 11:34
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3This is definitely not one for ELL; there's a Ross Constraint involved. Tensed complement clauses are normally not islands, unless they're marked with complementizer that. Since the relative clause extracts I from the verb phrase Mr. Jones thought (that) I could do it, where it's the subject of a complement clause, it's grammatical if that is omitted between thought and could, but not if that is present, because extracting a constituent out of an island produces extreme ungrammaticality.– John LawlerCommented Jun 5, 2014 at 14:43
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... Although the claim that global warming is producing more islands is even more contentious.– Edwin AshworthCommented Jun 5, 2014 at 15:22
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3 Answers
I always thought only the references to inanimate objects use that or which, otherwise who should be used.
"It was me who Mr. Jones thought could do it." - sounds perfectly fine to me. ("Mr. Jones thought I could do it.")
P.S. I intended the text as a comment to an answer above, but cannot comment yet due to the reputation level.
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2Yup. Somebody taught you wrong, way back when. There's a lot of that going around. Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 14:33
With a few more changes I think this is even more natural:
I was the one who Mr. Jones thought could do it.
answered Jun 16, 2014 at 6:00
In my experience, a sentence like "It was me thought he could do it" sounds unusual, but (contrary to @johnlawler's statement) not particularly ungrammatical - especially if the word "me" is stressed.
answered Jun 5, 2014 at 16:24
