Dear friends, please take the time to read this.
Use of proper grammar has become so lax by people who are educated and those who are in positon to be heard, like TV anchors, news reporters, athletes, actors, musicians, etc. The mistake that has really been getting on my nerves for the last few years is the misuse of prounouns in an effort to try to sound "educated".
It is maddening.
Listen.
The pronoun I is always in the subjective case. It should always be used as the subject of a sentence. Please stop using it in objective position as the object of a verb or object of a preposition.
The pronoun me is always in the objective case. It is used as the object of a verb or preposition.
Consider these common statements for example.
1) "Brad went to the game with Joe and I."
2) "Brad went to the game with Joe and me."
The first statement is grammatically incorrect and makes the speaker sound like he's trying to sound educated. In the first sentence, the pronoun I is functioning as the object of the preposition with. It is incorrect because I is a subjective case pronoun . . . it should not be used in the objective position. You would never say, "Brad went to the game with I," would you?
The second sentence is correct because the pronoun me is an objective case pronoun used in the objective position and functioning correctly as the object of the preposition with. You might normally say, "Brad went to the game with me."
So, when do I say . . . "Joe and I" you ask?
Use it as the subject of the sentence. Always.
For example:
"Joe and I are going to the game with Brad."
Not, "Joe and me are going to the game with Brad."
That second sentence sounds silly and five-year-oldish, doesn't it? That's because me is meant to be the object not the subject in a sentence. You would never say, "Me am going to the game tonight," would you? Of course not.
Make yourself sound better educated by using pronouns correctly.
Thanks.
