“I” Before “Me” — U-su-ally

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

I still hear it everywhere, and  I am sure you do too. Confusing I and me — still! It is mostly the I used instead of me that really gets me going. I am so used to people using me for a subject by now that it doesn’t have the impact it used to: “Me and Jimmy are going to the bar.” You wanna say it like that? Fine. Not my business. Well, actually it is my business…

But using I when it should be me because you think you sound so erudite — NO! 

1 Between you and I, I think they will break up.

2 He split the pizza with her and I.

3  She gave my sister and I some of her clothes.

All of those I’s should be me’s.

“Grammartologically” speaking, me is used for the object of a preposition, or the object of a verb. I is a subject.

“Non-grammartologically” speaking, because usually the subject goes at the beginning of the sentence and the objects come later, I will come before me:  a pronoun nearer the end of the sentence will usually be me, not I.

In example 1 above, it is the other way around. The first I should be me because it is the object of the preposition between.  The I after the comma is the subject. 

Example 2 is another example of the object of a preposition: the preposition with.

Example 3 shows indirect objects of gave. No one would say, “She gave we,” or “She gave I.” No different when there are two objects.

So now we all know.