She told Mr.Bauer and ____ (I/Me) to go outside. Whenever you're uncertain about which pronoun to use in such a construction, just try taking out the "Laura and." The trouble with “me” usually begins when speakers are stringing together two or more objects in a sentence. Wrong: She and me went to the store. .” If you refer to yourself first, the same rule applies: It’s not “Me … He (subject) looked at me (object). English also has eight object pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, you and them. JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images. In Latin, Subject Pronouns Go in the Subject Position. It depends on the sentence. I and me. I agree it's a handy brain helper, but it doesn't prove anything.). Use the pronoun "me" when the person speaking is receiving the … By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, "I" and "Me" After Forms of the Verb "Be". This - what I said, but articulated better. That would certainly be better. It’s consider polite to put yourself last, but grammatically it can go eit her way. As a Direct Object: They named my family and me as the winners. This question has a two-part answer. A good way to determine which to use is to take out the other people in the sentence. A short trick to check if you should use "me" would be to ask the question "whom?" I was always taught that you should always put yourself last, which means the correct grammar here is none of your options, but instead it should be: Someone and I are interested in investing in your product. When do I use “I” instead of “me?”. Part one is that grammarians have long railed against constructions like Me and Mary are going to the store favoring instead Mary and I are going to the store.The basis for their argument is that someone who is going to the store is in subject position, and therefore should use the subject form of … My partners and I are interested in investing in your product. (incorrect – her is the object of the verb ‘teasing’, therefore I should be me, the other object of the verb) Lori sent me and Jane a card last Christmas. Share. If you don't know just remove the other person and talk about yourself. However, in the first example, the phrase “Mary and I” stands in for the single subject in the sentence. How powerful could a person with superpowers/group of superhumans be without greatly affecting world history? I bought myself a new car!. The latter is grammatically correct, however, when the pronoun is followed by a relative clause that identifies the pronoun as the object of an action. After all, "me" is the objective form of the first-person pronoun while "I" is the subjective form. Writing. Which is correct, “you and I” or “you and me”? Because the person is the object of the officer's gaze, we must use the object pronoun "me.". I believe that the confusion begins when someone says something like "John and me are ready" and that is corrected to "John and I are ready." When deciding if you should use "me" or "I" then leave out the other person to see which is correct. @Jay: Of course, even calling it "a grammar error" is a subjective point. “I” is the subject form of this pronoun. If it was "Someone or I ..." then you would use "is", because only one person is interested, either "someone" or "I". Which is correct: My Friend and Me or my friend and I? Lori sent me and Jane a card last Christmas. You know you should use me in this case, so you would use me in the previous case as well. You would use "X and me" if you and X are the object of the verb. Writers Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman guess that people correct children who use “me” instead of “I” so much, the children grow up using “I” even when it is wrong. I would never call. Example 2: This gift is for me. “Ask me anything” and “Ask anything to me”, Present perfect for someone who passed away, Capitalizing Work Titles — Beyond General Rules. 2 Answers2. Bill and me are excited to go to the concert. "She gave the apples to Jones and me." Split 1 through 6 into a product of 24 and sum of 12, Display the contents of an HTML file on my desktop, Could I ask my supervisor to help me coding an implementation of a scientific paper's algorithm, Finding the coefficients of an expression. When the decay constant is not constant. Me am interested in investing in your product? It only takes a minute to sign up. You know you should use me in this case, so you would use me in the previous case as well. She told ____ (I/Me) to go outside. You always come second. One example, as scholars John Algeo and Thomas Pyles point out, occurs in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," where the character Sir Andrew Aguecheek says, "That's mee I warrant you...I knew 'twas I.". When the individual speaking is the subject or one of the subjects of the sentence, the right word to use is I. When you can't remember, just take out the other subject. For example: "Smith and I are going to the store." My partners and me, we’re interested in investing in your product. The audience cheered for “someone and me” in the dance competition. If this phrase is the subject, then it's "Sally and I." Another way to keep them straight is to think about which first person plural pronoun you would use. ( I is the subject of am studying .) Right: She and I went to the store. You could say, "We, that is, Bob and I, are interested ...", All that said, "I and someone" or "Someone and I" sounds strange to me, and I suspect most English speakers, because it is an unusual use of the word "someone". English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. So the answer is: Mike and me are in the picture. Educated people know that “Jim and me are goin’ down to slop the hogs,” is not elegant speech, not “correct.” It should be “Jim and I” because if I were slopping the hogs alone I would never say “Me is going. Neither the Corpus of Contemporary American English nor the British National Corpus has any records of ‘some’ being used in coordination with ‘I’. The latter is correct. ThoughtCo. Remember the difference in case between the pronouns. "We" is simply another way of saying "I and someone". If you’re confused, you can test out whether you’re dealing with a subject by replacing the word with “me” instead. site design / logo © 2021 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under cc by-sa. In other words, use myself when you have already used I in a sentence, but you are still talking about yourself.Myself becomes the object.. Many people use these pronouns correctly when they are just talking about themselves, but go wrong when another person is in the sentence. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/i-and-me-1689417. If it's an object, then it's "Sally and me." Your last sentence is perfectly grammatical, despite what others have said, providing you use a comma to set off the appositive: “Me and my partners, we are interested in your product.” See my answer for details. As an Indirect Object: Please give my family and me the opportunity. The confusion here lies in the words “I” and “me,” which are different forms of the first person pronoun (a word which replaces a proper noun referring to the writer or speaker themselves). when you are talking about someone who has had something done to them (i.e. “I” is a nominative pronoun and is used as a subject of a sentence or clause, while “me” is an objective pronoun and used as an object. If this phrase is the subject, then it's "Sally and I." Find out which usage is correct and how the wrong term got accepted over repeated use. Is there such a rule, or is it just ... not done? Both "I" and "me" are first-person singular pronouns, but they are used in different ways. But many people do immediately realize that that is wrong, but when the subject is made more complex, they get confused. However, in the first example, the phrase “Mary and I” stands in for the single subject in the sentence. You would use "X and I" if you and X are the subject of the verb. . or . You … They also tend to be set aside when ‘I’ is coupled with a bulky coordinate.’, @BarrieEngland Maybe so, but any teacher of English who does not teach these sort of conventions is, I think, not doing his job. Confusion can occur, however, when one of these pronouns is grouped with another noun. My partners and me are interested in investing in your product? Many people make the mistake of writing "between you and I" when they should write "between you and me." It is Mike and me in the picture. Example 1: Casey gave me and Sarah his guns. As the Object of a Preposition: The party was for my family and me. It refers back to the subject of the sentence. Myself is a reflexive pronoun.. "I and someone we ..." is incorrect because it is redundant. You know you wouldn't say "Me went out to lunch" or "Steve told I." "I and someone are interested" is grammatically correct. Which you use is a matter of style, convention and courtesy, not of grammar. Whether to use “me” or “I” also seems to confuse writers. Both "I" and "me" are first-person singular pronouns, but they are used in different ways. In this case, \"I\" is the subject of the sentence - the person who performed the action of going to the store. I gave myself a manicure.. Don’t worry. The same principle applies to other examples where first-person pronouns are paired or grouped with other nouns: Once we remove "Bill" from this sentence, we see that the use of "me" is incorrect. It might not even be reflexive even if it includes the speaker. Nordquist, Richard. So it's "Jane and me", not "me and Jane". There was a sentence like this: I and my partners we are interested in investing in your product. @tchrist I'm sorry to bring up an old thread, but I don't understand how this is grammatical. Talking about multiple people (in practice) In reality, a lot of English speakers don't know or care about the rules above. Stack Exchange network consists of 176 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. By Mary Morel. This question has a two-part answer. The point of this question is not the I/me distinction, but the peculiar repeated pronoun in constructions such as "Him and I, we [did such and such]". The first part of the appositive is not even in the nominative case for pronouns. For example: It is I who went to the store. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, English Language & Usage Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us. For example: "Me" is correct in this instance because it is the object of the verb "hurt.". +1. But I don't think "someone" is grammatically incorrect, just unusual and unnecessarily vague. Then divide it! And to find out if you should use "I" or "me" say the sentence without the other person. "I" is a subject pronoun, while "me" is an object pronoun. Limit definition of the exponential of an integral? Double it? Your father and me, we’re thinking of staying. The way to work out which to use is to take the "someone" out of the sentence and see whether you would use "I" or "me if you were just talking about yourself. For example, "I (subject) went (verb) for … My partners and I are interested in investing in your product. This confusion usually occurs when you have I/me connected to another pronoun or name with "and" or "or." Do Potatoes Produce Seeds That You Can Store and/or Replant? I walked the dog. Me Follows Prepositions and Action Verbs. Part one is that grammarians have long railed against constructions like Me and Mary are going to the store favoring instead Mary and I are going to the store.The basis for their argument is that someone who is going to the store is in subject position, and therefore should use the subject form of … Use the pronoun "I" when the person speaking is doing the action, either alone or with someone else. - answering the question "for who? 7.3K views. If it's an object of any kind, it would be "Laura and me"--Steve told Laura and me that he was going to go to Penn State. Towards: How to Choose the Right Word, Using Personal Subject Pronouns in Spanish, How to Use the Different Forms of Pronouns, 100 Key Terms Used in the Study of Grammar, How To Use Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns in Spanish, Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia, M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester, B.A., English, State University of New York, The ball came flying through the air and hit, The weather did not look very pleasant to. 1 decade ago. Another way to keep them straight is to think about which first person plural pronoun you would use. So, which one of the options above is correct? Instead, a lot of people use mostly "me" or "I". This sentence is correct because it uses \"I\" as the subject. Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks. In Early Modern English—the language spoken by Shakespeare and others—"I" and "me" were sometimes used interchangeably after the verb "be." So "Bill and me ask your permission" is probably the only correct construction, while "Bill and I" is an incorrect hypercorrection (which sounds good today, because people have been brainwashed to do it by this phony rule for a long time now). Use me, us, etc. The sentence can be rewritten without the preposition by making "me" the direct object of the verb "handed": The best way to know when to use "I" and "me" is to identify whether the word is being used as a subject or an object. Sometimes people use I instead of me because they know me is sometimes wrong, but have not understood the principle. I or me : Grammar and Spelling Tips Be careful to use the pronouns I and me, he and him, she and her, we and us and they and them in the right place. ", "me" is used correctly in this context as it expresses the object who receives something. Instead, a lot of people use mostly "me" or "I" A lot of people only use "me": Me and Luis aren't coming. I agree that "someone" sounds very awkward here. I should have known this trick was already on this site... See the linked questions. - In this case, “Someone and I” is the subject in the sentence. I and my partners are interested in investing in your product. rev 2021.4.5.38984. “Me” is an object pronoun, part of the phrase “between X and Y” and so not a subject. (In speech I'd probably say something more like "Another guy and I are ...". Planar flow with bounded orbits and a single equilibrium point. Thus, we say “I did this,” “I saw that,” “Iate a purple pineapple,” and other such constructions. "Me" is a first-person subject pronoun, which means it is the direct or indirect object of an action or of a preposition: In the first example, the pronoun "me" is the direct object of the verb "tutored"; "me" is not the one tutoring but rather the one being tutored. Take the following sentence, for example: To determine if the usage of "I" is correct, all you have to do is take out "Jim" to isolate the first-person pronoun: This is not correct because "I" is not an object pronoun. Most people say, "It's me," or "It's us / them," instead of the grammatically … A lot of people only use "me": Me and Luis aren't coming. It is the convention in English that when you list several people including yourself, you put yourself last, so you really should say "Someone and I are interested."