Last week I wrote about the overuse — and misuse — of myself. Someone reminded me that the horrors of I and me are still around and not to forget those grammar faux pas.. I know that by now, you know the difference between I and me — and I have written several blog posts about that sticky issue in the past, but just to review.
Me and my wife saw the best movie last night!
It was just me and him; no one else wanted to go.
Between you and I, I didn’t like the cake she baked at all.
Mom made the kids and I dinner last night.
I and my friends are going away for the holiday weekend.
You have heard them all. They are all incorrect. Does anyone care anymore? (Besides us?)
I figure if you are going to say something, you might as well say it correctly. It can’t hurt. And you do want to sound smart, right? Saying it wrong becomes a habit, and then when you really do need to be correct (in formal business writing or academic writing)…
And it isn’t just I and me. It is all those other pronouns. The grammatical explanation is that some pronouns (like I, for example) are used as subjects in a sentence. Other pronouns (like me, for example), are used as objects. The non-grammatical explanation is that the subject pronouns (subjective) usually appear at the beginning of a sentence and the object (objective) pronouns will be nearer to the end of a sentence. But you cannot depend on that. Another way to figure it out is to find the verbs in the sentence. Then find the subject to each verb. Those pronouns will be the subjective type.
Subjective Pronouns: I, we, you, he, she, it, they, who
Objective Pronouns: me, us, you, him her, it, them whom
Subjective Pronouns are used as subjects and also after the verb to be in all its forms — if it is the main verb. (for example “Yes, this is she.“)
Objective Pronouns are used as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
And when you have two pronouns, or a name and a pronoun, and one is them is you, put yourself second please.
He and I make a great team. (subjects)
The winners are she and I. (predicate pronouns, following the “to be” verb are.)
Noah saw him and me at the concert, but he didn’t say hello. (direct object)
I gave the photos to him and her. (objects of the preposition to)
Mom made my brother and me a cake. (indirect object – the direct object is cake)
The last hint to figuring out which pronoun to use is to take out one of them. The pronoun you would use with one of them is correct when using both of them (or the pronoun and a name:)
- Mom made me a cake.
- Mom made my brother and me a cake.
Thanks a lot for the clear explanation 😊
You are very welcome!
A handy guide. I’m alarmed also by these issues. But it seems even top-paid reporters on TV don’t seem to care any more.
What would also be helpful, is a guide to “and” and “or”. In parallel with the proliferation of the slash (/) as an all-purpose substitute for conjunctions (and commas and even hyphens), I’ve noticed an increasing percentage of people nowadays confusing the two when they do muster up enough energy to spell out these little words. An example I heard recently was somebody talking about a policy that would apply to immigrants coming from Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, AND Nicaragua. But shouldn’t that be Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, OR Nicaragua (unless they are referring to immigrants with passports from multiple countries)?
Good point. Thanks! I will see what I can do about that.
Me, myself, and I appreciate your efforts to enlighten them, they, and us.
Anytime (or it is any time?) 🙂