I just have to remind all you dear readers of a grammatical goof that absolutely bugs the snot out of me. Since I have a policy of never correcting my family members’ or friends’ conversational grammar, I will get everything off my chest here on my blog.
OK. When speaking of yourself and another in the subject of a sentence, put the other person’s name first and yourself last, referring to yourself as “I.” The pronoun, “I,” is in the nominative case. The nominative case is used as the subject of the sentence.
Correct:
Mary and I went to the store.
Incorrect:
Me and Mary went to the store.
And, to be fair, most people get this correct.
But here’s the part that really bothers me: the use of the objective case pronoun. When you and another are used as indirect objects in a sentence, put the other person first then refer to yourself as “me.” “Me” is in the objective case. Objective case pronouns are always used as indirect objects.
Correct:
The woman gave Mary and me two tickets to the play.
Incorrect:
The woman gave Mary and I two tickets to the play.
You wouldn’t say, “The woman gave I two tickets to the play.” This is a handy little test to see if you have chosen the right pronoun; just remove the other person’s name and see if the sentence makes sense.
Thank you for reading.
This post brought to you by Grammar Nerds of America.
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