All except her have chosen their research topics for next year. she her
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct sentence is:
“All except her have chosen their research topics for next year.”
Explanation (300 words):
This sentence may sound strange to some English learners because of the use of “her” instead of “she.” However, “her” is the correct form here. Let’s break it down.
The phrase “All except her” is a prepositional phrase. The word “except” is a preposition, and prepositions are followed by object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them), not subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, they).
For example:
- Correct: Everyone passed the exam except me.
- Incorrect: Everyone passed the exam except I.
In the sentence “All except her have chosen their research topics,” “her” is the object of the preposition “except”. Therefore, “her” is grammatically correct, even though the main clause uses “have” with the plural subject “All”.
If we mistakenly said, “All except she have chosen…,” that would be using a subject pronoun (“she”) as the object of a preposition, which is grammatically incorrect.
This rule applies broadly in English:
- “Nobody but him showed up.” (not “he”)
- “Everyone, including me, is going.” (not “I”)
- “All except her were late.” (not “she”)
Another tip: you can test which pronoun to use by removing the rest of the sentence and checking the prepositional phrase:
- “Except her” sounds natural.
- “Except she” sounds awkward and wrong.
So, the sentence “All except her have chosen their research topics for next year” is both grammatically correct and idiomatic English.