Note 9 – Is it ‘I’ or ‘me’?

My writing challenge

For the background to my writing challenge, please read my first blog by clicking the following link – http://wp.me/p1x6Ui-4.  If you would prefer to dive straight into note 9, then read on…

‘I’ and ‘me’

Today I have been reading up on the use of the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’ and when and where to use them.  I, you, me, he, she and it are some examples of personal pronouns.  

According to Brandon Royal in The Litle Red Writing Book, “a pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or another pronoun”.  I also like Bernard G. Lamb’s explanation in ‘The Queen’s English’ (a great new book I bought today) where he explains that “pronouns stand for nouns but do not name them”.                          

The general rule appears to be that the word ‘I’ is used when it is in the subject part of the sentence and the word ‘me’ is used when it is in the object part of the sentence.  Take a look at the following examples:

‘Samantha’ and ‘I’ are the subjects in the following sentence:

“Samantha and I went to the cinema”

‘Samantha’ and ‘me’ are the objects in the following sentence:

“She went to the cinema with Samantha and me”

Please note that it would be wrong to say “She went to the cinema with Samantha and I”.  If you are having trouble working out whether it should be ‘I’ or ‘me’, the easiest way is to remove the noun ‘Samantha’ from the sentence and see how it reads, as follows:

“She went to the cinema with me” is the correct way of writing the sentence, rather than “She went to the cinema with I”

and

“I went to the cinema” is correct way of writing the sentence, rather than “Me went to the cinema”.

So, to recap…

• I and me are personal pronouns
• I is used if it’s in the subject part of the sentence
• Me is used if it’s in the object part of the sentence
• You never put me or I before the other noun e.g. me and Samantha

My thoughts:  This seems easy enough to apply and I believe that I do use ‘I’ and ‘me’ correctly in sentences.  I have, however, learnt a bit about pronouns and personal pronouns today.  I also understand subjects and objects, although there is a lot more to learn on this subject; I will add another blog about this when I’ve researched more.

I seem to have finished a bit earlier tonight.  If you haven’t already gone to sleep, hope the rest of your evening goes well. 

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

This blog: www.mywritingnotes.wordpress.com

My other blog: www.sandramadeira.wordpress.com

My website: www.tipsandluxuries.com

Twitter: @madeirasandra  and  @tipsandluxuries

Reference list

Brandon Royal in The Litle Red Writing Book (2004), USA

Bernard C. Lamb The Queen’s English (2010), UK