correct use of us and we?

Question

ok so for exmaple when i say..
"The four of us kids trying to swim"
is that correct? or do you use
"The four of we kids trying to swim"

i know you are supposed to put we if it is with an action verb.
but would "we" be the subject or "four"?

Answer 1

The rule of thumb is, the descriptor ("kids," in this case) is irrelevant when it comes to grammar.

So, the correct word is whatever the correct word would be if "kids" were not part of the sentence.

the four of we trying to swim <-- clearly not correct.
the four of us trying to swim <-- correct (assuming that this is meant to be a phrase, not a sentence. This is not a sentence, because it's missing a predicate).

Answer 2

"The four of us kids trying to swim" is correct. 'us' follows 'of', which is a preposition. You'd probably spontaneously say "the four of us trying to swim"; adding the word kids doesn't change it.

There is no verb in what you have quoted, so there is no subject. If the sentence was as suggested above, eg "The four of us kids are trying to swim" (or "the four of us kids tried to swim") then 'four' would be the subject. If the sentence was something else like "they yelled at the four us us kids trying to swim" then 'four' is not the subject. So it depends on the full sentence.

Answer 3

Neither is correct as a complete sentence- if you start with "Give it to..."

The correct phrase would be "the four of us kids trying to swim."

This still sounds awkward (at best), so I would either completely restructure the sentence or split it into more than one to be clean.

WE is the subject form.
US is the predicate form.

Use 'We' when the the 'We' are doing the stuff. We went to the store.

Use "Us" when the "Us" is receiving the action. Sell the store to us.

In your example, 'Of us' is describing which four... therefore the predicate form.

Answer 4

The correct way to write your sentence would be as follows. "The four of us kids are trying to swim" . And you don't even need to include the word kids. I am an English Major so you should feel confident with my answer. Take care

Answer 5

"The four of us kids are trying to swim."

Any number or modifier with reference to a group takes this form: the ____ + of + us.

ie. It took the best of us. All of us adults can swim. Two of us play guitar. etc..

Answer 6

If you call us, we shall glady attend