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Would you use him or he in the following sentence?

It is fun to be him/he.

A teacher told me that you use the object form after the infinitive of to be. Is this true?

I am a native English speaker, but I am trying to figure out what the SAT wants me to think people should speak like.

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    Traditionally, he would be used. In most modern contexts, however, him is far more common.
    – Anonym
    Jul 9, 2014 at 1:01
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    In modern English, any non-possessive personal pronoun that is the object of a verb, or of a preposition, or comes after a verb, is objective (me, you, him, her, it, us, them). Anything else is a joke, or non-native speech.
    – John Lawler
    Jul 9, 2014 at 2:32
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    I would say "It's me". "It is I" is, as I said, a joke.
    – John Lawler
    Jul 9, 2014 at 2:51
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    Excuse me? I don't think I understand... @JohnLawler
    – okarin
    Jul 9, 2014 at 2:51
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    @JohnLawler Don't know Latin.
    – okarin
    Jul 9, 2014 at 2:53

1 Answer 1

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Yes, it's true.

The general rule of thumb is: if there is any ambiguity, use me / her / him.

There are some special-case exceptions to this rule in traditional, formal English – e.g. It is I!, rather than It's me! – but It is fun to be him. is not one of them.

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  • It is fun to be he.
    – user231780
    Sep 27, 2017 at 23:42

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