Question

It was she, not me, who put forth the attractive propositions.

• A. She, not me,
• B. Her, not me,
• C. Her, not I,
• D. She, not I,

Hint:

'It was she' needs the subject pronoun; keep both halves of the comparison in the same case, 'she' and 'I'.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

This sentence checks pronoun case after the linking verb 'was' and inside a 'not X' contrast. 'It was ___ who put forth the attractive propositions' needs a subject pronoun in the blank, because the pronoun is the complement of 'was' and also the subject of 'who put forth'. The underlined part reads: 'she, not me,'.

1. She, not me, (option a, same as the original): 'She' is correctly in the subject case, but 'me' is the object form and does not match 'she' in a parallel contrast. The two pronouns should share the same case.
2. Her, not me, (option b): Both 'her' and 'me' are object pronouns, so this breaks the rule that a pronoun following 'it was' and acting as the subject of 'who put forth' must be in the subject case.
3. Her, not I, (option c): 'Her' is wrong for the same reason as option (b), and mixing it with 'I' makes the two halves of the contrast disagree in case with each other.
4. She, not I, (option d): Both 'she' and 'I' are subject pronouns, matching the grammatical role they play as the subject of 'who put forth the attractive propositions'.

Option (d) is correct because it keeps both halves of the 'not' contrast in the subject case, which is what the sentence structure demands.

Let's summarize:

• After 'it was', and before a clause like 'who put forth', use the subject pronoun (she, I, he, they), not the object pronoun (her, me, him, them).
• A 'not' contrast should keep both pronouns in the same case for consistency.

So the corrected sentence is 'It was she, not I, who put forth the attractive propositions', matching option (d).