Grammar Check! “I” vs. “Me”

Today’s GrammarBook.com email (June 21, 2017) about writing and proper use of English grammar focuses on the right use of the personal pronouns “I” and “me”, though it includes other pronouns too.

Since this is always a sticking point with writers – and especially speakers (we get even lazier when we speak)! – we should work on getting this right, both in our writing and in our speaking.

I remember my dear mother correcting me over and over on this as a child, until it was drilled into my stubborn Dutch noggin. Today I thank her for those daily grammar lessons. I believe they finally sunk in. Check my grammar in the previous sentences. 🙂

If you visit the blog post on this at the end of this post, you can even take a pop quiz to check yourself.

I vs. Me You don’t need to learn how to diagram a sentence to be able to learn the rules of grammar and punctuation. Let us help you use pronouns correctly without any unnecessary jargon. First, let’s define a pronoun: a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. We can divide pronouns into three categories:Subject pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, they Object pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us, them Possessive pronouns mine, my, yours, his, hers, her, its, ours, theirsThe following rule not only makes sense but is simple. Rule: Use one of the subject pronouns when it is the subject of the sentence. Example: I hit the ball. Who hit the ball? I did. So “I” is the subject. Usually, these subject pronouns sound right to most of us. Example: He and I will meet at the gym. Who will meet at the gym? He will meet at the gym. I will meet at the gym. So “he” and “I” are both the subjects. Sometimes we want to say, “Him and me will . . .” or “Him and I will . . .” You can remember the correct pronouns by saying each pronoun alone in the sentence. It probably won’t sound right to you to say, “Him will . . .” or “Me will . . .” Now, this next rule is difficult because it doesn’t sound right to most of us. Rule: Use a subject pronoun following state-of-being verbs such as am, are, is, was, were, appeared, seemed, etc. Example: It is she. Example: It was we who won the election. Because we don’t speak this way, we can’t use our ear to help us with this rule. This is a good time to discuss the difference between spoken language and written language, particularly when it comes to tests and formal papers. We speak informally but must write more formally. Frankly, if I knock on someone’s door and am asked, “Who is it?” I am not going to say, “It is I” for fear that the person on the other side of the door will think I’m weird and never open up. However, if I am taking an exam or writing a report, I will try to spot these state-of-being verbs and check my pronoun usage. The next rule does sound right to most of us. Rule: Use one of the object pronouns when the pronoun is not a subject and it doesn’t follow a state-of-being verb. Example: Nancy gave the gift to her. Example: Please remind him or me. (Remember, leave out one of the pronouns and you will be able to hear the correct answer.) Many of us have been brainwashed to believe that “I” is somehow more correct than “me.” Not so. “I” and “me” follow the same rules as all other pronouns. Would you say, “Please give it to I”? Of course not. Example: Between you and me, I think Sandy cheated. Again, me is not the subject nor does it follow one of those state-of-being verbs. So we must use the object case. (For those of you with some grammar background, you and me in that sentence are both objects of the preposition between.)

Source: I vs. Me – Grammar & Punctuation | The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation