I keep seeing this same grammatical error and I can no longer resist the urge to point it out and help everyone fix it!
I know when we were children we were always taught (and corrected) to say 'So&so and I' whenever speaking about ourselves along with someone else.
Unfortunately, it seems very few of us were taught when 'So&so and I' is actually incorrect.
I am here to help! Here we go!
Lets pretend this is a picture of me with Charlie Brown. The correct way to label it is 'Charlie Brown and me' simply because if Charlie wasn't in the picture it would be a picture of 'Me'. Labeling your pictures 'Hubby and I' is wrong - you wouldn't say it is a picture of 'I' would you? When you add another person you don't need to change what you call yourself.
This also applies when you are simply speaking about yourself and another person, there is no need to change 'me' to 'I' when you are saying something like how someone bought both of you a gift. The correct way to say it is, 'My mother bought a blender for hubby and me', not 'My mother bought a blender for hubby and I'. If your hubby wasn't a part of the equation you would say 'My mother bought a blender for me' and not change it to 'I'.
The simple rule is to say 'me' if you would when you are alone as well as when you are with someone else.
Reference 1
Reference 2
Reference 3
I hope this helps!
Have a fabulous day!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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29 comments:
Thanks for this lesson.
I'm guilty of using the two words incorrectly. :(
Another general rule of thumb is that "I" usually comes early in the sentence and "me" is usually at the end. Usually! Now you've inspired me to post my own grammar lesson on my personal pet peeve grammar mistake!!
Ohmygoodness. I am so happy you posted this!!!! It drives me insaaaane when people say 'blah & I' when they shouldn't!!!!!
Me (I mean I) am sorry for using it incorrectly... hehe :) I am so bad at this though... :( thanks for the lesson!
GUILTY!
Good lesson!! I sort of twinge when I see grammatical mistakes. As soon as I cringe, then I am one the one making the mistake! :)
OMG! I can't believe there's someone else out there who's just as anal as I am about grammar! I'm always correcting people -- sometimes in person but mostly behind their backs and in my head. The one that really gets me is today's incorrect overuse of the word "myself". Please do a post on that one!!
Oh Princess! We must be grammatical twins!
Hahahaha! Guilty as charged... I usually say "here is me" when I should be saying "here am I". Sometimes, I just want to sound cute but I know it's so grammatically wrong.
great post! my high school teacher was so strict on this!
I miss my mother correcting my grammar and today in my post I was going back and forth not knowing what was really correct in one instance. After about a half hour I changed it but I am still not certain. Could it be my potential error was the catalyst for your post? Oh gosh, that would be so embarrassing! Hey, if I ever do create the grammar infraction please feel free to email me. It will make us both feel better. :)
Great post! Guilty too! Have a sweet day!
Sanday - I will do that! Next week maybe :O)
Pink Martini - I will for sure! And no it wasn't your post - it was about 400 others tho!
Henley - I sometimes second guess myself to the point I make a mistake lol - sometimes we need fresh eyes to see the errors!
Now that I have read this post I will no longer have an excuse for my poor grammar. Now if I could only fix my spelling.....
Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife
Love it! Now could you please get people to use "gone" and "went" correctly?
I am 100% guilty of using these words incorrectly. Shame on me! Thank you for this lesson, it is so helpful! Now if I can just get in the habit of using them correctly! Have a fabulous day, lady! xoxo
110% guilty of these things ... I'll come back for some reference points!
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Glad I'm not alone!
i'm so guilty of using the wrong 'I', I just think it sounds better, I know, I know! ;-) great reminder to all of us!
That drives me crazy too!!! The other thing that makes me bonkers is when people don't use the correct form of they're, there & their. UGH!!! It's 5th grade grammar class people!! LOL!! XOXO
Most fabulous PSA!
Queen Bitty is amused.
Thanks for the grammar lesson but here in the Ozarks we speak another language and elementary school grammar goes flyin' out the window. Ya see what I mean? Heeeheeehee!
Have a beautifully blessed day!!!
I know that I am guilty of many grammatical errors!
Nezzy - you can use all the folksy words you want but simple sentence structure should never be thrown out the window.
Great post!! If I'm ever in doubt, I always do just what you said, take out all but the me or I and see what it should be!! Oh, by the way...stopping by to say thanks for stopping by!! And, you're totally right...men do love us in "manly" ways, huh?!!
Oh, grammar question? When you are talking about something that is co-owned (and don't want to say "our")...is it "my and so&so's", "so&so and my" "mine and so&so's"...it trips me up everytime!!!
Mama M...
Always put yourself last - so 'so&so and my....' and remember in a compound possessive situation you do not ''s' the first person's name.
HTH!
This is so sad, I am probably going to copy & paste this, I can never (never-ever) remember the proper grammar on this! Thank you!
tp
Thank.you. It makes me crazy too! Just usually not worth wasting your breath to correct. The other one is the incorrect use of "myself". Drives.me.crazy.
In Clinton Kelly's book that came out this summer (How to Be Freakin' Fabulous), there was a whole section on grammar. Loved it!!
And thanks for posting...such a huge pet peeve!!
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