The author S.A. Joo's Writing & Editing Advice & Tips

A professional Editor www.sirraedits.com and YA Writer, represented by Black Hawk Literary Agency.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

I or Me? - Seriously, this is a problem.


Writers, I can’t pinpoint when this trend began, but these days, I can’t go a day without hearing someone say “I” when the correct word to use was “me.” In person and on TV/radio.

“This house isn’t for I.” “Between you and I.” “He can’t do this to you or I.”
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Some might've accepted it as a sophisticated option of the two because of the unreliable media or peers. But here’s the fact. The subject of “I or Me” wasn’t, isn’t, and will never be debatable. Here’s a succinct explanation.

Both I and me are pronouns. That's where the similarity ends.

Within a sentence, I is a subject, and me is an object.

Basic Sentence = Subject + Verb + Object

Examples of I:  I drank milk.
                             I went to school.

Examples of me:  He gave it to me.
                                There’s a wall between you and me.

Incorrect Example:  Sam gave the homework to you and I.

When you is taken out, it becomes Sam gave the homework to I.

Does that sound right? NO.

Of course, there's an exception in every case. For example, you may still answer the phone with "this is she/he." I won't get into an explanation, which would be 2 paragraphs long and would make this post no longer succinct. Thanks for visiting my blog, and as always, check out my website for my complete list of my editing service. Happy writing~

Fair warning. Writers, please stop using the wrong pronoun from this point forward. If you keep doing it, you'll be a target of ridicule by me or the "educated" public. #Stabbylove