Work has really slowed down because of the holiday season, so I'm a little bored!! I came across this article as I was trying to keep myself entertained at work.
Are Me and Him Ruining the Movies?
I must be getting old, because things I hear in the talkies -- oops, the movies -- are really starting to get my goat. Let's make an example out of two recent flicks: "High School Musical 3" and "Madagascar: Escape 2 [sic] Africa." An early scene in each contains the same hideous grammar error -- the use of me where I belongs.
From "Madagascar": "You and me are different, son."
From "High School Musical": "Me and my dad built this tree house."
It gives me the shrivels to hear this sort of dialogue. It's not English; it's Caveman (or "Cavemanglish," if you want to make a portmanteau out of it). Only two characters can get away with talking like that: Tarzan and Cookie Monster. Everyone else needs to know the difference between I and me.
Actually, almost everyone else needs to know this. There are exceptions in high places, though it pains me to admit it.
When Bill Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination in 1992, for example, he goofed twice, saying, "My mother was busy raising my brother and I," and "Give Al Gore and I a chance to bring America back." This is called "hypercorrection" -- he was avoiding using me to sound extra proper.
It's proof, probably unnecessary, that you can be the leader of the free world even if you don't understand how to use pronouns.
Rule No. 1:
I is the subject. Its official name is a nominative pronoun. All this really means is that it's standing in for your subject.
So, use I when the pronoun you need is working as the subject of a clause or a sentence. I built this tree house. My dad and I built this tree house.
This isn't hard to remember. If you find yourself getting confused when there are two subjects, drop one out. Everything should become clear. Even Troy Bolton probably wouldn't say, "Me built this tree house."
Other pronouns can stand in for your subject, too. They are you, he and she, we, and they. So, you'd say, "He and Troy built the tree house," not "Him and Troy built the tree house."
Rule No. 2:
Me is the object. Its fancy name is an objective pronoun. It means it's standing in for your object.
So, use me when your pronoun works as an object in the sentence or clause. A pronoun can be the object in two ways:
• It can be the object of a verb. For example: The sushi (your subject) made (your verb) me (your object) sick. The movie gave Monica and me a fright.
• It can be the object of a preposition. For example: She sent the letter to (a preposition) me.
Likewise, use you, him, her, us and them to stand in for your objects.
There. That's it. Can you believe people get this wrong so often? And one last thing. That old tar pit -- it is I vs. it is me -- can be crossed off your list of things to worry about. Either one is fine, though the latter is best for informal contexts.
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