Than me, than I am?

Than  is a funny word.
It can be a preposition or it can be a subordinating conjunction.

This is not what's odd about it, for a lot of words in English have dual functions. What makes it strange and a little difficult is that it does not change its meaning much when moving from one function to another.


We need to remember what a subordinating conjunction is (follow the link).
We need also need  to remember what a preposition is (follow the link - if one exists, I may have written this before writing the relevant article).

A preposition always  takes the object case. So just as we say over me, under him, next to them, beside her, for you, for us, we say than me, than him, than her, than them, than us.

A subordinator introduces a new clause that must contain a subject and a verb.

So we may say:

He is taller than me (we are using than as a preposition)
He is taller than I am (we are using than as a subordinator, so we need a subject and a verb in the subordinate clause),

But the meaning is exactly the same. If you use it as a subordinator, it's better to include the verb (than I am  is better than just than I)

So you can choose whichever you prefer.


Just be careful of a few instances where the two forms, usually identical,  diverge in meaning, as in this case:


My students love Carolina more than me.

Clearly, this means that Carolina is their favorite teacher, and I am not, which makes perfect sense if you happen to  know us.


My students love Carolina more than I do.

This suggests that, while my students think she's great,  I am not too keen on Carolina, possibly because she is more loved than me/than I am.