{"id":15,"date":"2017-06-20T22:09:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T03:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=15"},"modified":"2021-03-10T17:32:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T23:32:31","slug":"tis-i-or-tis-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/pronouns\/tis-i-or-tis-me\/","title":{"rendered":"I<\/em> vs. Me<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t need to learn how to diagram a sentence to be able to learn the rules of grammar and punctuation. Let me help you use pronouns correctly without any unnecessary jargon.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s define a pronoun: a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. We can divide pronouns into three categories:<\/p>\n

Subject pronouns<\/strong>
\nI, you, he, she, it, we, they<\/p>\n

Object pronouns<\/strong>
\nme, you, him, her, it, us, them<\/p>\n

Possessive pronouns<\/strong>
\nmine, my, yours, his, hers, her, its, ours, theirs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The following rule not only makes sense but is simple.<\/p>\n

Rule: Use one of the subject pronouns when it is the subject of the sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Example: I hit the ball.<\/em>
\nWho hit the ball? I did. So “I” is the subject.<\/p>\n

Usually, these subject pronouns sound right<\/em> to most of us.<\/p>\n

Example: He and I will meet at the gym.<\/em>
\nWho 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t sound right to you to say, “Him will . . .” or “Me will . . . .”<\/p>\n

Now, this next rule is difficult because it doesn\u2019t sound right to most of us.<\/p>\n

Rule: Use a subject pronoun following state-of-being verbs such as am, are, is, was, were<\/em>, appeared, seemed,<\/em> etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Example: It is she.<\/em>
\nExample: It was we who won the election.<\/em><\/p>\n

Because we don\u2019t speak this way, we can\u2019t use our ear<\/em> 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\u2019s 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\u2019m 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<\/em> verbs and check my pronoun usage.<\/p>\n

The next rule does sound right to most of us.<\/p>\n

Rule: Use one of the object pronouns when the pronoun is not a subject and it doesn\u2019t follow a state-of-being<\/em> verb.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Example: Nancy gave the gift to her.<\/em>
\nExample: Please remind him or me.<\/em><\/p>\n

(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.<\/p>\n

Example: Between you and me, I think Sandy cheated.<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, me<\/em> is not the subject nor does it follow one of those state-of-being<\/em> verbs. So we must use the object case. (For those of you with some grammar background, you <\/em>and me<\/em> in that sentence are both objects of the preposition between<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/strong>
\nSelect the correct sentence.<\/p>\n

1A. Arlene asked he and I to complete the job.
\n1B. Arlene asked he and me to complete the job.
\n1C. Arlene asked him and I to complete the job.
\n1D. Arlene asked him and me to complete the job.<\/p>\n

2A. He and I completed the job for Arlene.
\n2B. He and me completed the job for Arlene.
\n2C. Him and I completed the job for Arlene.
\n2D. Him and me completed the job for Arlene.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

1D. Arlene asked him and me to complete the job.<\/p>\n

2A. He and I completed the job for Arlene.<\/p>\n

\n
Are you ready for the quiz?<\/h6>\n

I vs Me Quiz<\/a><\/br>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t need to learn how to diagram a sentence to be able to learn the rules of grammar and punctuation. Let me help you use pronouns correctly without any unnecessary jargon. First, let\u2019s define a pronoun: a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. We can divide pronouns into three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-pronouns"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}