Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Me, Myself or I?

Me, Myself or I?Cause of much confusion, not a little of it caused bywell-meaning teachers in the hope of improving the manners of their pupils.
Here are some examples and hints:You wouldn't dream of saying; 'Leave it to I.' so, why wouldyou write, 'Leave it to Jane and I'? The correct form is 'Leave it to me.' And,therefore, 'Leave it to Jane and me.'
Since the confusion often occurs when a second person creepsinto the sentence, try writing it without the intruder, retaining only thefirst person pronoun, as illustrated above.
Similarly, you're unlikely to utter the sentence; 'There'sno doubt about what me would do under the circumstances.' You would alwayswrite, 'There's no doubt about what I would do under the circumstances.'
Finally, 'myself' is rarely needed. If you find yourselfusing it, always question the need and the context. I can think of only twoinstances of proper use:
'Some people think Gerald is a pain in the fundament, but Imyself am more tolerant.' However, even this usage is convoluted, as the sentencewould say precisely the same thing without 'myself'. Try it.
The other instance is: 'This causes me to ask myself whysuch a thing should be.' And is perfectly legitimate.
Pic: Shadows.