Overheard on an elevator today,
I didn't realize it was him.
Corrected by the know-it-all,
He. "I didn't realize it was he."
The know-it-all then went on a rant about how everybody is a dolt for not knowing that.
I swear I have never heard this before in my life. Is the know-it-all correct?
If so, why is "I didn't realize it was he," grammatically correct? What rule makes "him" incorrect here?
Answer
The 'rule' is that the verb to be, in any of its forms, is a copula that takes a predicate rather than an object, hence "It is I" and other phrases beloved of English teachers in junior schools. There are various theories about the reasons for this, but the truth is that it has become a shibboleth to distinguish those who had 'a proper education' from the hoi polloi who just learned English as they went along. [Another such is to point out that hoi is the definite article in Greek, so 'the hoi polloi' is a tautology; please don't comment to that effect unless you wish to be mocked.]
Nobody pretends that this rule is used in everyday speech; Barham's 'Jackdaw of Rheims' has a distinguished audience of prelates and clerics observe a jackdaw
His eye so dim,
So wasted each limb,
That, heedless of grammar, they all cried, "THAT'S HIM!--
showing that, though you are supposed to know that the 'correct' phrase is "that is he", you are not expected to use it in moments of stress.
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