A small blog post that packs a lot of punch, the new Grammar Grenade series will help blow apart all those confusing spelling, grammar and punctuation problems, once and for all!
I vs. Me
I’m sure we’ve all run into one of those situations where we’ve conversationally backed ourselves into one of those “I vs. Me” corners.
Is Gerry going to the movies with Tony and I? Or with Tony and me?
I see the “I vs. Me” confusion lead to mistakes again and again – on TV, in person and online. The main culprit of this confusion? Over-complicating the issue.
People believe “I vs. Me” is harder than it actually is, which leads them to pick the one they believe sounds more intelligent, but is usually wrong.
Luckily, there’s an easy trick to clearing the confusion.
By removing what we’ll call the “middle man” from the sentence, it’s easier to see what makes sense:
Gerry is going to the movies with Tony and I.
If you kick “Tony and” out of the sentence and read it as, “Gerry is going to the movies with I,” it doesn’t sound quite right, does it?
Gerry is going to the movies with Tony and me.
This time if we kick “Tony and” out, the sentence sounds perfect, right? “Gerry is going to the movies with me.”
This simple trick will have you not only “sounding” like you know your stuff, but will have you actually knowing it!
Now, go pull on your self-righteousness and sneer* at all those who obviously don’t know this great little trick – or better yet, share this post with them! After all, sharing is caring!
Which grammar issues would you like to see explained in future Grammar Grenades? Leave a comment below or email me. I’ll be happy to explain them.
Amanda Mili
Your Business, By Design
Ottawa, Ontario – Serving Canada and the U.S.
email: [email protected]
website: www.amandamili.com
*Some readers have interpreted “go pull on your self-righteousness and sneer” literally, as though I am sincerely suggesting the belittling of others. In truth, I was being facetious to create a stronger dichotomy between keeping this lesson to oneself, and taking the obvious desired action of sharing this post and knowledge with others.
If you have a trick to know when to use lay vs lie, I’d love to hear it. I have to look that one up every time!
You’ve got it, Robyn! I’ll explain that one in the next Grammar Grenade on April 30th. Subscribe to my mailing list to make sure you don’t miss it, or I can email you personally once it’s published if you prefer. 🙂
….about worse, or worst ~ isn’t it prefered to write: ‘this is the worse storm of the season?’ rather than ‘worst storm?’
Hi mcouroyer, I’ll be sure to cover “worse vs. worst” in a future Grammar Grenade to explain this issue, but the short answer is that your example should be written as: “This is the worst storm of the season.” Thanks for reading and commenting, and stay tuned for this future lesson!
Great info! Thanks!!!
Glad you found the information useful, Annette! Thanks for reading!
Great tip, Amanda! I’ve actually been doing this for years and have tried to teach it to my children, too.
Here’s a subject for another installment of the Grammar Grenade: “Who vs Whom”. It kills me when I see people use the wrong one in a sentence. But, I’ll admit that I don’t have a good trick for it. Do you?
Hi Jason, in fact I do! I’ll be sure to address “Who vs. Whom” in an upcoming installment. Thanks for reading and for the suggestion!
Amanda threw a Grammer Grenade at my wife and me. A great tip. Thanks, Amanda. Sign me up.
My pleasure, Jim! To sign up, simply click here and you’ll have more Grammar Grenades and great content coming your way. Heads up!
I do the same with it’s and its with my son – if you want to know if it should have an apostrophe – change ‘its’ to ‘it is’ in a sentence – if it does make sense, it does need an apostrophe – if it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t need an apostrophe eg. its tail is black; it is tail is black (no apostrophe needed); it’s a nice day; it is a nice day (apostrophe needed) – relatively simple one and possibly one a lot of people don’t confuse but useful for 11-year-old boys! (I bet there’s an exception somewhere though!).