A Public Service Announcement

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know I used to teach English. Teaching in the classroom really isn't my thing, but in some ways, once a teacher, always a teacher. I can't help it.

I've seen and heard many instances of people "overcorrecting" their English, and just yesterday I saw two different people do this, one of whom should have known better. Instead of pointing fingers and getting really snarky, I'll just put the proper usage out there for people to take...or leave.

So. When you were a kid (this is a general "you," and I probably don't mean YOU), and you said "Hey Mom, me and Joe are going for a bike ride," your mom yelled "Joe and I! Joe and I!" Am I right? And now, you just automatically use "...and I," right?

(Bear with me, fellow grammar mavens.)

The thing is, "and I" is only correct if you are the subject of the sentence. If you are the object, it would be "and me." Let me give you some examples.

SUBJECT: Joe and I are going to ride our bikes. Jan, Joe, and I like to ride our bikes.

OBJECT: Mom gave Joe and me permission to ride our bikes. Jan brought cookies for Joe and me.

So how do you know the difference? Well, if wrapping your brain around the concept of subject and object is too hard, then just remove the other person from the phrase. I am going to ride my bike. Mom gave I permission to ride my bike.

Huh? No. Mom gave me permission.

Another tip: It's never, ever between you and I. Never ever never ever never never ever never, to quote SpongeBob Squarepants.

The same goes for other pronouns like she, he, we, and they. Those are subjects. The object pronouns are her, him, us, and them.

This has been a public service announcement. Any questions?

Comments

[Doc]

Oh! Could you please do a PSA for there, their, and they're? PALEEEEZ!

(and maybe one for spellling please, too ;)

[token]

ima sew gonna scroow up round u all de time so u weel nevr no win ima maken a misteak or jist scroowin wicha

[ally bean]

Doc has a good idea. And how about one for "its" and "it's" while you're at it.

[rebecca]

i'm right there with Doc with their there and they're.

that drives me nuts.

you did teach me how to use its and it's and whose and who's. hopefully i can learn the joe and i and joe and me stuff. it is harder for me to wrap my brain around subject object...but i'll get it!

[sizzle]

wow! i totally learned something. :) and to think, i was a lit major at one point.

[Sarah]

Oooh, ooh, could you do a post on the use of "myself"? As in, "If you have any questions, just speak to Rob or myself."

[Margaret]

And don't forget MYSELF. Our admin uses the reflexive pronoun incorrectly all the time. (Contact so and so and myself.) It's enough to make me tear out my hair.

[DebR]

I saw "I" where "me" should have been in a book recently. Wouldn't you think an editor would catch that before it was published? Sheesh. "Me" is not a bad word!

[FATGUY]

DUH!!!!!
TO FN OLD TO CARE.
MORE IMPORTANT THINKS
TO THINK OF.
LIKE:
DEATH
TAXES
VACATIONS

[FATGUY]

DUH!!!!!
TO FN OLD TO CARE.
MORE IMPORTANT THINGS
TO THINK OF.
LIKE:
DEATH
TAXES
VACATIONS

[FATGUY]

SEE...I NEVER PROOF READ EITHER.

[Chris]

You must lose your mind when you stumble on my rarely-edited posts ;-)

[rebecca]

i've learned!! i've learned!!

thank you ms. alison! :hug:

[Thomas]

Supposebly were gonna remeber this stuff when noone else cares how we spell by? Its to much of a bother, and that what speel cheks are for anyways. I'm like literally serious.

[Roni]

Can you please tackle 'anyways' next... that one bites me every time.

[Mist 1]

I've been overcorrecting lately. I think I've been using the word "badly" badly or bad or wrong or incorrectly. I don't know.

I am trying to use the word fewer or less. Crap. Please tutor me.

[gina]

My ex-husband used to correct my grammar all the time. It drove me insane, to say the least. Now I find myself correcting my OWN grammar - as far as the me or I thing anyway.

Go figure.

[Betty C.]

Well, I must say I appreciate your post! You could almost become another Grammar Girl!

[sandra]

I appreciate this PSA more than I can possibly explain.

[Heather B.]

Ok for photos, because I see this on flickr all of the time: Is it "Jane and I" or "Jane and me"?

[Joolie]

I try to believe that language is dynamic, that many common errors are common for a reason, that what you say is more important than how you say it, and all that grammar-hippie stuff. It doesn't work, though. Some errors are just too annoying.

[AlisonM]

Alison and I are of like minds when it comes to grammar and spelling. Drives me nuts, too.

People back in my working days (late '80's) were using "Myself" as a subject pronoun, trying to make themselves sound erudite but producing the exact opposite effect on those of us who knew it was not only an object, but reflexive as well. I can't believe nobody's caught on to them yet.

As for the less/fewer thing. . .less describes a quantity, fewer describes a number. Less money, fewer dollars, less fat, fewer calories, less trouble, fewer complications.

Oooh, you know what else bugs me? Myriad! Myriad, the noun, means a thousand foot soldiers. So when you see "we offer a myriad of choices", it means "we offer a thousand foot soldiers of choices." Drop off the "a" and "of" and it's an adjective that means (colloquially) "many". Nobody seems to know that.

[Melanie]

i am the WORST about proofreading. And, I don't remember much about my grammar classes in grade school. And in college I was an ART student. No excuses there either. I know.

do you have time to proof read them for me? :giggles:

[Melanie]

i also STINK at scrabble. ;-)

[Dan]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I hate when folks "correct" themselves by saying "Mom gave that to Joe and I" or "Mom that to Joe and myself"

And how about when folks think "I" is always wrong and say things like "Myself went to the store". Huh??

How's it going buddy?

[gorillabuns]

oh my! is it possible to send my posts to you for proof reading before hitting send? i seem to have forgotten when to use commas.

[Chris Late]

Linguistic pet peeves. Love 'em. For me, there's "on a daily basis" (as opposed to just "daily"), e.g., "I went there daily," not "I went there on a daily basis." Also, "a moment in time," as opposed to what? A moment in water? Where else would moments be but time? Of course, these are style questions, not grammar.

I must need coffee...I'm cranky.

CL

[panthergirl]

OMG... what great timing for me to come here.

I was reading what might be the most obnoxious blog around (Suburban Bliss). She claims to be a freelance writer, yet she constantly posts pictures with comments like "This is Logan and I on our honeymoon". ARGH!!!!!! Drives me fucking nuts.

[Emil]

One of my (not so) favourites is when people write "would of" when they mean "would have". Naturally, the same goes for could and should.

If we're making requests, what about when to use "each other" and "one another"?

[zip]

oh fuck, was it I? me swear myself'll be better in about thirteen more days.

[sunshinecity]

Hey good for you!! Too many people make grammatical and orthographic mistakes!!
It makes me cringe sometimes too!
LOL

[booby gonzales]

i must know, why has it never been "between you and I"? i don't disagree, i just wanna know why.

the first person here is a subject? therefore it's 'me'? but 'between' is a preposition, is it not? so do prepositions have the power to indicate subjects and objects?

waiting with baited breath.