Hi, this Mr. Sato.
Should you use "I" or "me?"
One of the most common errors is using "I" when you should use "me" and vice versa.
People say "Joey and me were in English class."
and they wonder if that shouldn't be "Joey and I."
Or they say, "Grandpa gave $20 each to my brother and I" and they wonder if that
should be "my brother and me."
Here's the short answer: Take out the other person in the list and -- if you're a native
speaker of English -- your ear will tell you.
So take out Joey from the sentence.
(In this case, you'll have to make the verb singular instead of plural because now you're
talking about one person, not two. "Were" must become "was" for a moment)
"Me was in English? or "I was in English?"
Your ear should tell you that it's "I was in English."
"Me was in English" sounds like a caveman, right?
"Ugh. Me learn good."
No native speaker would say that.
So put Joey back in now.
The grammatically correct sentence is "Joey and I were in English class."
You just take out the other person in the list and you'll hear it, clear as a bell.
Or how about that other example with grandpa?
"Grandpa gave $20 each to my brother and I."
Let's take out the other person in the list: your brother.
Now try the sentence again.
"Grandpa gave $20 to I."
Hmm, that doesn't sound right, does it?
So let's try "me" instead.
"Grandpa gave $20 to me."
There you go.
That sounds correct, because it is.
"Grandpa gave $20 each to my brother and me."
Also, you generally want to put yourself last in a list.
It isn't a grammatical rule.
It's just a matter of manners.
Even though it may sound funny, "I and Maria went to the movies" is just as grammatically
correct as "Maria and I went to the movies."
"Zoe told me and Doris" sounds awkward, but, believe it or not, it isn't technically ungrammatical.
We expect to hear "I" or "me" last, when it's in a list.
So I recommend that you do that: "Zoe told Doris and me."
OK, now here's the technical explanation, and this will help you with other pronouns like
"they" and "them."
This might sound confusing at first, but hang it there.
It'll get clearer once I show you the chart.
There are subjective pronouns, which is when the pronoun stands in for the subject
of the sentence.
In "I was in English class," the "I" is the subject of the sentence.
It's the thing that did the verb, which in this case is the word, "was."
So you need the subjective form: "I."
Then there are objective pronouns, which is when the pronoun stands in for the object
of the sentence.
In "Zoe told me," the word "me" is the object of the sentence.
It's sort of the thing the verb acted upon.
Right?
"Me" was the person who was told.
So whereas the subject is the thing that does the verb, the object is the thing that got
done to.
Zoe did the telling, so she's the subject.
Who was told?
Me.
So "Me" is the object.
Look at this chart and it should be clearer.
The pronouns on the left here are subjective pronouns: I, he, she, they, it, you, and who.
These are the pronouns that stand in for the thing that did the verb, "I forgot your name."
"He laughed."
"She kicked the ball."
"They don't eat meat." "It ran out of gas."
"You made a bracelet."
"Who ate the cookies?"
They're all subjects because they all did the verb.
The pronouns on the right are objective pronouns: me, him, her, them, it, you, and whom.
These pronouns stand in for the thing that was done to by the verb -- they were acted
upon by the subject -- they are objects.
Got that?
"Doris pinched me."
See, "me" is the person whom Doris pinched, so "me" is the object.
It all depends on the verb.
Who pinched, and who got pinched?
"A stranger asked him for the time."
"I learned to bead from her."
"Bob wrote it."
And "To whom do you wish to speak?"
Some people prefer to use pronouns that are not male or female, and prefer to use nonbinary
pronouns, "they" and "them."
"They" is the subjective and "them" is the objective, just like when it's used as a plural.
This usage is backed up by the National Education Association, The Associated Press, and well
as the Chicago Manual of Style.
English is constantly evolving.
If you don't know what pronoun a person wants you to use, just ask them.
Knowing the difference between subjects and objects -- or at least being able to hear the
difference -- can help you out in tricky sentences like "He and they agreed."
You think -- hmm, wait.
Should that be "He and them?"
"They and him?"
No problem!
You got this!
Just take out the other-person-in-the-list one at a time."
"He agreed."
"They agreed."
Sounds right.
Not "Him agreed" or "Them agreed."
Hear it?
So "He and they agreed" was correct the first time.
Now that you know how to do this, don't go around acting all superior and
correcting your friends.
These are very common errors and you'll read them and hear them all the time, regardless
of what those people's first language is.
English teachers and parents have to correct kids because that's our job.
But I don't correct the English of friends and family.
That's obnoxious.
I just silently acknowledge that they're inferior beings and move on.
(Just kidding.)
OK, there you go!
That's "I" vs. "me."