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When relating a story, do you wonder whether to say, "Hector and I went to the movies," or "Hector and me went... ." Here, you would say, "Hector and I went to the movies," but (despite what your mother may have told you) "Hector and I" is not always correct. "The race was won by Hector and I" is just as ungrammatical as "Hector and me won the race." It's easy to choose correctly if you remember a few simple steps.
Steps
I and Me Usage Cheat Sheet
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Remember the difference in case between the pronouns. Both I and me are pronouns that we use to refer to ourselves, but I is nominative, suitable for use as the subject of a sentence or clause, and me is accusative, suitable for use as the object of a verb. [1] X Research source
- Nominative – The nominative case is used when the pronoun is the subject (e.g. "I rode in the car") or, when speaking very formally, after a form of "to be" (e.g. "It is I," would be formal, "It's me" would be informal). [2] X Research source
- Accusative – The accusative case is used when the pronoun is the object (e.g. "He drove me to work") or with prepositions (e.g. "between you and me," not "between you and I"). [3] X Research source
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Think like a native. Most native speakers rarely make case errors with these pronouns, except when they are paired with other nouns as part of a compound subject or object. (Unfortunately, problems with pronoun case are more common today than twenty years ago.) Although almost no one would say, "Harry took I in his car," one often hears sentences such as "Harry took Jordan and I in his car." [4] X Research source
- If you're trying to determine which pronoun to use in a sentence with a compound subject, try the sentence using only the pronoun part of the subject. Whichever pronoun, I or me , sounds right alone is the one to use in the compound subject
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Reduce or simplify the sentence. It can be hard to tell whether to use "I" or "me" in a long, complicated sentence with more than one subject or object. For example, "Me, Hector, and Sam went to the store" doesn't sound to most people all that much better or worse than "Hector, Sam, and I went to the store." [5] X Research source
- Mentally delete all other subjects or objects so that the sentence is reduced to its simplest form, with just "I" or "me" remaining. In this example, you would be left with "Me went to the store" and "I went to the store."
- Now, it's much easier to see that "I" is correct.
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Avoid "Bizarro-speak." In Superman comics, there's an imperfect version of Superman called Bizarro , and he does everything in a backward sort of way. He says, "Goodbye" when he means, "Hello," and he says things such as "Me am so sad to see you" (meaning "I'm glad to see you"). Bizarro, and a little bit of conceit, can help you learn proper pronoun use: If you change the subject around to a different spot in the sentence, and make it about you and only you, you can easily spot the places where the wrong usage of "I" and "me" will make you sound like Bizarro.
- Examples:
- "Harry and me went to the store." (Change it around so that Harry's out of the picture and it's just about you - you would never say, "Me went to the store.")
- "Who's at the door?" You answer, "It's me." (No, no, no! You would really properly say, "It is I." Consider a related sentence: “That writer is me.” Try reversing the word order, [6] X Research source and you end up with “Me am that writer.” You use nominative pronouns such as "I" after forms of “to be” (i.e. am , are , is , was , were , be , being , and been ). The “to be” functions as an equal sign, so the nouns and pronouns on both sides of the “equal sign” are nominative.
- "The cake was made by Justin and I." (Would you ever say, "The cake was made by I"?)
- Examples:
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Use pronouns correctly in comparisons to prevent ambiguity. Write out the full comparison to decide which pronoun to use. In the following sentence, "I" or "me" may both be correct, but the word you select changes the meaning of the sentence: "She likes Winifred more than I/me ."
- "She likes Winifred more than I" means that "She likes Winifred more than I like Winifred."
- "She likes Winifred more than me" extends to "She likes Winifred more than she likes me."
- Writing out the implied words can help you avoid ambiguity and use the correct word in context.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionIs this the correct use? "If you have any questions for Mr. Smith and I, please let us know. The office staff and me enjoyed the letters you sent us."DonaganTop Answerer"...Mr. Smith and me," and "...staff and I..."
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QuestionHow would I determine when to use either "I" or "me"?Community Answer"I" is used as the subject of a sentence, and "me" is used as the object of a verb. If you are doing something, you would use "I." For example: I joined a soccer team. Stephanie and I played Mortal Kombat. Chris had Jane and me over for dinner (where "me" is one of the objects of "had."
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QuestionIs it: You are taller than me or I?Community Answer"You are taller than me, her, him" sounds better to most English speakers and is seen and heard more often than than "I" in this situation. In fact, they're actually both correct usage in modern times. English as a language is ever changing, so it's fine to to use the phrase "something than me" but if you do use I, it can help to say "You are taller than I am" and you'll have readers and listeners forgetting their argument.
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Tips
- Teachers, don't forget to look at the other wikiHows in the English grammar category for additional articles on grammar that you can easily incorporate into your teaching.Thanks
- Remember to figure out proper usage before you begin to speak; consider saying the sentence desired silently to yourself to determine if you are using the proper word.Thanks
- Practice in your head before you say it until it becomes automatic.Thanks
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References
- ↑ http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_17.htm
- ↑ https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/nominative_case.htm
- ↑ https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/accusative_case.htm
- ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/the-basics-on-subject-and-object-pronouns-b/
- ↑ https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/subject-pronoun-or-object-pronoun
- ↑ https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/pronouns.htm
About This Article
Article Summary
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To choose between “I” and “me” correctly, start by simplifying the sentence by removing any other subjects or clauses until only the “I” or “me” remains with the verb. For example, if the sentence is “Hector and I went to the store,” remove “Hector and.” You can then see that “I went to the store.” makes more sense than “Me went to the store.” For a cheat sheet from our Language reviewer to help you decide between “I” and “me,” read on!
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