However, I know many people who are much luckier than I AM или THAN ME?

Прошу не предлагать мне варианты перевода получше (они всяко есть), потому как меня интересует не именно это предложение, а просто пример проблемы, с которой сталкиваюсь часто. Есть ли какое-то правило на этот счет?

Спасибо!!

THAN ME - универсальный вариант для глаголов и прилагательных
THAN I AM - для прилагательных
THAN I DO - для глаголов

например для удобства дифференциации предлагаю понимать

THAN ME - меня
THAN I AM - чем я

сравните
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=%22than+i+am%22&lr=&aq=f&aqi=&oq=%22than+i+am%22&fp=62d5eba82b39e4cd
и
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=%22than+me%22&lr=&aq=f&aqi=g4&oq=&fp=e8aec8f715611eed

кроме того, что второе явно употребительней, разницы я между ними не вижу

А вообще - то это программа 4 класса нач. школы (напр., по Верещагиной). THAN + косвенное дополнение.

А, название книги - Новое в грамматике англ. языка

http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/t.html#thani

Вейхман "Новое в английской грамматике"

но тут не упомянута форма than him (= than me) например

очевидно на придаточное предложение c местоимением первого и второго лиц лица оказывает влияние форма с 3 лицом, потому добавляется глагол
и кроме этого для дифференциации двух форм
than me и than I которые на русский опять же можно перевести как "меня" и "чем я"
при том, что than I сама по себе звучит архаично

Than, as used in comparatives, has traditionally been considered a conjunction; as such, if you're comparing subjects, the pronouns after than should take the "subjective case." In other words, "He's taller than I," not "He's taller than me"; "She's smarter than he," not "She's smarter than him." If, on the other hand, you're comparing direct or indirect objects, the pronouns should be objective: "I've never worked with a more difficult client than him."

There are some advantages to this traditional state of affairs. If you observe this distinction, you can be more precise in some comparisons. Consider these two sentences:

* He has more friends than I. (His total number of friends is higher than my total number of friends.)
* He has more friends than me. (I'm not his only friend; he has others.)

The problem, though, is that in all but the most formal contexts, "than I" sounds stuffy, even unidiomatic. Most people, in most contexts, treat than as a preposition, and put all following pronouns in the objective case, whether the things being compared are subjects or objects. "He's taller than me" sounds more natural to most native English speakers.

This isn't a recent development: people have been treating than as a preposition for centuries. Consider the following from big-name English and American writers:

* Matthew Prior, Better Answer: "For thou art a girl as much brighter than her,/ As he was a poet sublimer than me."
* Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, 1.10.58, "I am fitter for this world than you, you for the next than me."
* Lord Byron's letter of 2 November 1804, "Lord Delawarr is considerably younger than me."
* Robert Southey, Well of St. Keyne, 51: "She had been wiser than me,/ For she took a bottle to Church."
* William Faulkner's Reivers, 4.82: "Let Lucius get out . . . He's younger than me and stouter too for his size."

So what should you do? I don't have a good answer, other than the most general advice possible: try to size up your audience, and figure out whether they're likely to be happier with the traditional or the familiar usage. [Entry added 3 Jan. 2005.]