As a child, I enjoyed having pen pals and writing letters (on actual stationery with turquoise ink in an Easterbrook fountain pen). Maybe that is why today I enjoy corresponding with our readers when they have questions about grammar and word usage in the pages of  National Geographic. Of course, I'm happiest when I don't have to admit an oversight on our part or the publication of an error.

Recently a reader challenged the use of us in this statement from the Stonehenge article in June: "Skeletal remains indicate that despite physically demanding lives, the people of Neolithic Britain were more light built than us."

The reader went on to say, "I was taught that it is understood that you are actually saying, 'more lightly built than we are built.' I know NG is not a grammar magazine, but I have a hard time believing that NG is wrong; on the other hand, my grammar ego is going to take it hard if I'm wrong!"

Fortunately, I was able to wiggle (or is it wriggle?) out of this one by responding:

"In this case both your grammar ego and ours can remain intact, although I believe you have a slight edge over us.

"The question with this particular construction is whether than
is a conjunction or a preposition. If it's considered a conjunction and
the sentence is shorthand for 'more lightly built than we are,' then
you're right, we should have said we. If than is considered a
preposition, which some grammarians argue, then us is correct. Since
the first version sounds rather stuffy and pedantic and the second one
incorrect to finely tuned ears, we should probably have recast the
sentence.

"There are times when the pronoun used can change the meaning of the sentence. For instance:

He likes John more than she. [more than she likes John.]
He likes John more than her. [more than he likes her.]"

For a usage discussion of than as a preposition, here's what Merriam-Webster's unabridged online dictionary says:

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