I chose the title for this blog post to get the algorithm’s attention, but I have to be honest: this post is pointed at native English speakers, particularly my fellow Americans.
Apparently many of us were traumatized about this topic as children, but the American school system taught us one thing really well, which is don’t use “me” at the beginning of a sentence.
It is incorrect to say “Me and Jill went to the store.” “Me and my mom saw Uncle Bob yesterday.”
Nope. Those are wrong. We had it drilled into us “Jill and I went to the store.” “My mom and I saw Uncle Bob yesterday.”
This has led to what seems to be widespread fear among Americans of all stripes of using “me” anywhere near the beginning of a sentence. I have heard relatives, podcasters, lawyers, political pundits, even Barack Obama get this wrong and petty as it is, it really gets to me.
Some examples include things like,
“He asked my wife and I…”
“For Bill and I…”
“They invited Michelle and myself…”
No!
So here’s the one and only (easy) check you need if you are uncertain about I, me or myself.
Take the other subject out of your sentence and see if the pronoun you chose still feels right.
“He asked I…”
“For I…”
“They invited myself…”
All of these are clearly wrong. He asked me, for me, they invited me.
So whether you are a native speaker or an English learner hoping to sound more fluent, this is an easy thing to master and will give people the impression you know your way around pronouns.
Make friends with me!
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