Grammar-Quizzes › Noun Phrases › Nouns › Pronouns › Double Personal Pronouns—I or Me?
Double Personal Pronoun Usage (I or Me)
Distinguish subject vs. object pronouns
Double Personal Pronouns as Subject
| INFORMAL | ||
|---|---|---|
Some speakers may mistakenly use an object (accusative) pronoun—me, her, him, them, or us—in the subject position of a clause when mentioning more than one person. Yet they use the correct pronoun when only one pronoun is used! |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| ACCUSATIVE PRN | V / VP | ADV / PP / NP |
*Me and Diana |
got along |
well. |
*Them and Jen |
went |
on a group date. |
*Her and her family |
liked |
me a lot. |
| SINGLE PRONOUN CHECK | ||
Diana *Me |
got along |
well. (sounds bad) |
*Them Jen |
went |
on a group date. |
*Her Her family |
liked |
me a lot. |
| INFORMAL & FORMAL | ||
|---|---|---|
More commonly, speakers use a subject (nominal) pronoun—I, she, he, they, or we— in the subject position, and they include themselves last. (If you are unsure which pronoun to use, restate the sentence with one pronoun at a time.) |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| NOMINATIVE PRN | V / VP | ADV / PP / NP |
Diana and I |
got along |
well. |
They and Jen |
went |
on a group date. |
She and her¹ family |
liked |
me a lot. |
| SINGLE PRONOUN CHECK | ||
Diana I (OK) |
got along
|
well. (sounds OK)
|
They (OK) Jen |
went |
on a group date. |
She (OK) Her family |
liked |
me a lot. |
*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.
¹ her family does not change because her is a possessive.
you takes the same form as a subject (nominal) or object (accusative) pronoun.
Grammatical Functions and Categories: N – noun / pronoun; NP – noun phrase; V – verb; VP – verb phrase; Adv – adverb; PP – prepositional phrase
| SUBJECT / NOMINATIVE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1ST PER | 2ND PER | 3RD PER |
I (singular) |
you |
he, she, it |
we (plural) |
you (all) |
they |
| OBJECT / ACCUSATIVE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1ST PER | 2ND PER | 3RD PER |
me (singular) |
you |
him, her, it |
us (plural) |
you (all) |
them |
Double Personal Pronouns
As Object of a Preposition
Double Personal Pronouns as Object of a Preposition
| INFORMAL | ||
|---|---|---|
Some speakers use subject (nominative) pronouns —I, she, he, they, or we— as the object of a preposition —for, about, between, with, to, like, before, after, etc. This usage sounds bad and is ungrammatical. |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | V | NP + PP / PP |
* I |
had |
a good feeling about she and I. |
* My family |
could see |
her with my son and I. |
*Something good |
is happening |
between he and I. |
| SINGLE PRONOUN CHECK | ||
I |
had |
a good feeling about *she. a good feeling about *I. |
My family |
could see |
her with my son. her with *I. |
Something good |
is happening |
(between) with *he. (between) with *I. |
| INFORMAL & FORMAL | ||
|---|---|---|
Educated speakers use an object (accusative) pronoun—me, her, him, them, or us— as the object of a preposition. Note that one mentions oneself last when more than one person is mentioned as the object. |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | V | NP + PP / PP |
I |
had |
a good feeling about her and me. |
My family |
could see |
her with my son and me. |
Something good |
is happening |
between him and me. |
| SINGLE PRONOUN CHECK | ||
I |
had |
a good feeling about her. (OK) a good feeling about me. (OK) |
My family |
could see |
her with my son. her with me. (OK) |
Something good |
is happening |
(between) with him. (OK) (between) with me. (OK) |
*Incorrect usage and it sounds bad.
between – relates two items ; use with instead.
Also see Pop-Q "Bachelor", Pop-Q "Ali and I's", and Like you and I
"In my experience, people treat "I " like the formal pronoun and 'me' as the casual one. You should use your best pronoun if you are appearing on TV. ;-) "
– Amy, Dallas, TX. explaining why participants on "The Bachelor" TV show tend to switch subject and object pronouns.
Double Personal Pronoun Genitives
Express a relationship between two nouns
Double Personal Pronoun Genitives
| TWO PERSONAL PRONOUNS | ||
|---|---|---|
Use a genitive form to express a relationship of one person and a second person to an item. (Her and my + noun). Use personal pronouns — my, your, her, his, their, our — before the noun (shared item). |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | V | ADJ |
Her and my relationship |
is getting |
stronger. |
Our relationship |
is getting |
stronger. |
My relationship with her |
is getting |
stronger. |
*Her and I's relationship |
is getting |
stronger. |
*She and I's relationship |
is getting |
stronger. |
| PERSONAL NOUN + PERSONAL PRONOUN | ||
|---|---|---|
Use a genitive form to express a relationship of one person and a second person to an item. If both people share the same item, then only the second name in the pair is genitive. (Jane and my. Jane and Jack's). |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | V | ADJ |
Jane and my relationship |
is getting |
stronger. |
Jane and Jacks's relationship Their relationship |
is getting |
stronger. |
Jane's relationship with Jack |
is getting |
stronger. |
Jane's and Jack's relationships |
are getting |
stronger. |
*Jane and I's relationship |
is getting |
stronger. |
*Incorrect usage, sounds bad.
genitives – also called "possessive" canexpress a relationship such as possession (my dog), a relationship (my girl), a natural trait (his eyes), a family relationship (his mom), origin (his city), performer of an action (his arrival), and more.
See Possessives, Double Possesives and Apostrophes.
Also see Pop-Q "Bachelor", Pop-Q "Ali and I's", and Like you and I
- Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. "Coordination of Genitives." The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. 15 §3.4b.
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
Error and Solution
| ERROR |
|---|
*This is a great experience for people like her and I. *This is a great experience for young people, such as she and I, who want to find a mate. |
*This is a great experience for young people, such as her and me, who want to find a mate. *This is a great experience for young people, for example her and me, who want to find a mate. *People, such as she and I, have not found a mate. These are awkward sounding. Rephrase with like.) |
| SOLUTION |
|---|
This is a great experience for people like her and me. Use the object (accusative) pronoun after like. |
*This is a great experience for young people, like her and me, who want to find a mate. *This is a great experience for young people, like her and me, who want to find a mate. *People, such as she and I, have not found a mate. awkward If you must use a supplementary comment with an example—for example, for instance, such as, namely, etc— use the object (accusative) pronoun after it. |
We normally use the accusative pronoun after like and such as. Also see For example. (Huddleston 1156)
Grammar Notes (Advanced)
Between you and I
Comments on the Subject of "You and I"
Between you and me. 1. The nation is divided in its use of between you and me and between you and I. Let me begin by declaring that the only admissible construction of the two in standard use in the 20C. is between you and me. —Burchfield 106
Between you and I. "What is this between you and I… and where did it come from?" — Simon 1980.
Everybody knows between you and I is wrong, but it occurred in the past and it occurs now, apparently mostly in speech. Examples, in print, especially recent ones, are hard to find. There seems to be a need for someone to study binary units like you and I, he and I, he and Brian to see if they behave differently from single units…
Conclusion: you are probably safe in retaining between you and I in your casual speech…but you had better avoid it in essays and other words of a discursive nature. If you use it, someone is sure to notice and disparage your character, background , or education. —Merriam-Webster 181-3
C. Between you and me; *between you and I.
Because the pronouns following between are objects of the preposition, the correct phrase is between you and me. Yet the phrasing *between you and I is appallingly common — "a grammatical error of unsurpassable grossness," as one commentator puts it. Interestingly, this grammatical error is committed almost exclusively by educated speakers trying a little too hard to sound refined but stumbling badly. It's almost surely an in grained instance of hyper-correction based on childhood admonitions not to use you and me ( or similar compounds) as the subject of the sentence — and, far more confusing to most people, as a predicate nominative in sentences such as It is I. —Garner 102
Language Change Index 2: widely shunned ["The form spreads to a significant fraction of the language community but remains unacceptable in standard English."] —Garner 102
The technical term for avoiding one grammar trap only to fall into another is hyper-correction… mentioned as a cause or reinforcement of between you and I… —Merriam-Webster 181
Works Cited
- Fowler's Modern English Usage. R. W. Burchfield and H. W. Fowler, revised 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2004.
- Garner's Modern American Usage. by Bryan A. Garner, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2009.
- Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. Reprint ed., Merriam-Webster, 1994.
Practice 1
Old Friends
Complete the sentence with the pronoun (formal use).
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
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Practice 2
A Design Idea
Read for Errors
My classmate, Andy, and I had to do a project for our design class. So we decided to come up with a solution to the problem of having our doors dented while our car is parked in a parking lot. We thought about the problem and designed a light-weight plastic air tube to surround the car. Me and Andy took the tube to a crowded parking lot and asked people if they would use our invention. One guy told Andy and I that the tube would fall off too easily. So me and Andy changed the design to cover just the mid-part of the sides of the car. Another woman told us that it was a good idea, but that it was too easy to steal. Andy and I made some changes.
He and I put some magnetic strips inside foam tubes and attached them to the doors. It worked very well. Additionally, me and him figured out a way to put a security cable through the foam tubes and attach it to the door handle. Then, me and Andy went back to the crowded parking lot with our newest design and asked people what they thought. Immediately, everyone who saw Andy and I's door protection system asked us how much it cost and if they could buy one. At that moment, we knew our design was a winner. For Andy and I who are just high school students, this was exciting. We took our project to class and received an excellent grade.
come up with (V) – invent, create, think of
foam (N) – a soft sponge-like material
magnetic strips (N) – long piece of material with the + and - attraction of a magnet
security cable (N) – rope-like metal tie
solution (N) – a way to fix or correct a problem
Edit for errors
- Edit the sentence(s) in the text box.
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