Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Meghan and me

You guys really shouldn't encourage me.  But since you asked . . .

People tend to get confused about whether to use "I" or "me" with a compound subject or object, like "Meghan and me" or "Meghan and I."*  It's really easy to figure out, though--just take Meghan out of your sentence and whichever sounds right, is right.  So, "Meghan and I went to the movies" (I went to the movies) but "The movie was too crowded for Meghan and me" (The movie was too crowded for me).  You'd never say "The movie was too crowded for I" because you'd sound like a crazy person.

See?  I'm the most annoying person on earth.  My grammar nut mom was my English teacher in middle school (oh god it was horrible, the stories I could tell you), and now I have to spend the rest of my life fretting over stuff like this.  It's amazing that I have friends.


*This is an quotation pulled straight from seventh grade.  I would begin sentences with "Meghan and me" just to show my mom that her grammar rules couldn't hold me.  I was a tween rebel. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are not annoying, really you aren't. When people put "I" instead of "me" it drives me crazy! Thanks for posting that, I hope "those" people read it & get it right!

brie said...

I just looked this up yesterday because it is a grammar problem for me! I will now use the trick of removing the other person from the sentence to see if it sounds correct or crazy. Sheesh!

Linda Johns said...

I just had a fingernails-on-chalkboard moment this morning when I read something from a manager that used "I" instead of "me." And I also had a strict grammarian for a mother!