Classic Errors and Helpful Hints

Grammar and Spelling Tips

and

I or me?

Be careful to use the pronouns I and me, he and him, she and her, we and us, and they and them in the right place. Use I, we, etc. when you are talking about someone who has done something (i.e. who is the subject of the sentence), and use me, us, etc. when you are talking about someone who has had something done to them (i.e. who is the object of the sentence). People most often make mistakes over this when they are talking about more than one person:

* 'Me and Annie had a dog once'; 'Adrian and me were going out'. In these sentences you should use I, not me, because the two people are the subject in both. 'Annie and I had a dog once'; 'Adrian and I were going out'.

* 'Watch Helen and I while we show you'. You need me here, as the object of watch.

* 'Everything depends on you and I'. Use me, us, etc. after prepositions.

A good guide in cases like these is to see whether the sentence sounds right with only the pronoun. If 'Me had a dog' is wrong, then so is 'Annie and me had a dog'; if you wouldn't say 'Watch I while I show you', you shouldn't say 'Watch Helen and I'.

It's right to say 'between you and me', and wrong to say 'between you and I'. This is because a preposition such as 'between' should be followed by an object pronoun such as 'me', 'him', 'her', and 'us' rather than a subject pronoun such as 'I', 'he', 'she', and 'we'.