Subjects of sentences 2
Me, myself and I
Me belongs to another group of words we will call object pronouns, and is always on the receiving end (i.e. is the object) of the action in the sentence. This group can never be the subject of the sentence, can never be the person or thing doing the action in the sentence.
She hit me with a frying pan.
* Me eat muesli everyday. * (Red asterisks signal incorrect sentences.)
This is a little different:
I hit myself with the frying pan.
Someone/something and I
Usually this is where the confusion happens.
Most people are comfortable saying My flatmates and I... but are more reluctant to say ...my flatmates and me when those terms represent the object/s of the sentence.
The test presented in this lesson, when you are not sure whether to use I or me is to remove the other parties' names, so that you are left with only your pronoun... and see if it still makes sense.
* My flatmates and me eat muesli every morning. *(bold asterisks signal incorrect sentences.)
*The cat and I have decided to stay in bed.
In part 3 you can see how this test also works with object pronouns.
A test for whether it should be someone and I or someone and me
Testing your object pronouns:
Now we will apply the test from part 2 to our object pronouns.
* The students sent flowers to my mother and I. * (Note: red asterisks signal that the sentence is wrong.)
*The doctor agreed to see my flatmates and me before looking after the other patients.
- the Queen was already waiting to speak with my husband and I.
Now we shall try some more difficult sentences.
The Prime Minister was waiting for the Queen and me to finish eating our lunch together.