compound subjects

A reporter asked the New York Jets’ new QB how this chapter of his life would end it it were a movie.

Brett Favre’s response: “Of course, I and this team would come out being victorious.”

This grammatical rule is so basic that mothers teach it to 4-year-olds. But let’s get basic for Brett, who is 38.

A subject is the someone or something doing the action or being talked about. It is the “who” of a sentence, while the verb is the “what.”

When there are two subjects, which is called a compound subject, and one of them is the speaker, it should always be the second subject. It’s a matter of good grammar and good manners. “My teammates and I are optimistic,” you might say. Or, “The other reporters and I scoffed at his grammar.”

In this case, Favre’s word choice reveals his viewpoint: He’s thinking of himself first and tacking on the team as an afterthought. The idea of being a “we” did not come to Favre’s mind.

While we’re critiquing this attention-loving, on-and-off retiree, let’s examine the rest of his brief answer. You don’t “come out being victorious.” You simply “come out victorious.” If Favre really wanted to add a helping verb, he could have said, “We would be victorious.” But he doesn’t appear to feel the need for help.