Thread: Более правильно 'Он меня раздражал' или 'Он раздражал меня'?

Originally Posted by Ambivalence

Well, my question is: is it 'Он меня раздражал' or 'Он раздражал меня'? What is more correct?

Here there is no difference at all, IMHO. In Russian word order is much more free than in English. Though different word order often provides slight intonation change.

Originally Posted by Ambivalence

And just out of curiosity: is it 'был бы' or 'бы был' ?

бы usually follows the key word of the potential mood. So if 'был' is the key word (emphasized word), it should be 'был бы'. Also if бы follows the predicate, it is the most common way (no special emphasis).