Use of personal pronouns (Speak Good English)

Use of personal pronouns (Speak Good English)

Last week we looked at the order in which we arrange the personal pronouns if we have to use any two or all three pronouns in a sentence.


We said many people don't know that the personal pronouns --- I, YOU and HE/SHE/IT --- are not arranged any how, and that whenever you have to use any two of them or all three in a sentence, it should be the third person HE/SHE taking precedence over the second person YOU and the first person I, while the second person YOU also takes precedence over the first person I.A reader drew my attention to the fact that he had seen in the Bible the verse:
I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE
which clearly goes against the principle of the third person taking precedence over the first person, as explained in my discussions.
The reader is right; there is a verse like that in the Bible, and I appreciate his concern that that verse goes against the principle concerning the arrangement of the personal pronouns.
Indeed, there is another instance of this principle being set aside in a song by the Praye group.
There is a refrain or chorus in that song that goes:
I AND MY SHODY ARE ONE
If we are to go by the principle explained above, that refrain should be:
MY SHODY AND I ARE ONE.
So, let's say that the Biblical verse I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE and the Praye refrain I AND MY SHODY ARE ONE are incorrect, grammatically speaking, because in both sentences, the first person pronoun I is made to take precedence over the third person MY FATHER and MY SHODY.
But, dear readers, in English, such seeming incorrect sentences are tolerated and permitted IF they appear in songs, poetry and such literary writings.
In fact, there is a maxim in English that says:
ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND IN WAR, AS IT IS IN POETRY.
What this means is that in literary writings, writers have the permission to go against grammar if that will make them achieve their set goals.
In the Praye refrain, we can see that I AND MY SHODY ARE ONE follows a certain beat that MY SHODY AND I ARE ONE will not give, hence the permission to go against grammar to achieve that beat.
The King James Version of the Bible which has the verse I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE should be seen as a literary piece, for which reason we gloss over the glaring error in that verse.
I hope the reader who sent the concern understands my explanation. 

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