Is It I or Me?

Are you learning English as a second language and find it difficult to know when to use “I” and when to use “me” when talking about yourself?

Well, you should know that you are not alone! Even native speakers have trouble knowing when they should say “I” and when “me” is the right choice, but there is a simple way to tell the difference.

If you have not touched this subject in your ESL class you may want to propose it, because speaking and writing correctly is of utmost importance in today’s business world.

Here’s what you have to know about the use of “I” and “me”:

We normally select the right form by intuition; because we have heard it before, we automatically know some instances where you should use “I” and others where “me” is the correct choice.

For example, you would never dream of using “me” in these cases:

-      I am an executive.
-      I love chocolate.
-      I will be late if I don’t leave now.

Equally, you would never employ “I” here:

-      Give me that.
-      Show that to me.
-      Teach me how you do it.

The doubt concerning their use arises when these words are joined by another pronoun or a noun. In these instances, you have to think about the subject and object in the sentence to accurately write “I” or “me”.

When this happens,

“I” is used as the subject of the sentence, and “me” is the object.

For example, what’s the correct form in the following sentence?

It was I who showed him the house.

Or,

It was me who showed him the house.

To be sure, just simplify the sentence:

I showed him the house.

So according to this, the correct form of the above is:

It was I who showed him the house.

Now, let’s analyze this other sentence. Which one is correct?

        The policeman handed the paper to my brother and I.

        Or,

        The policeman handed the paper to my brother and me.

Again, to be certain about the correct form, simplify the sentence and take care of each person individually:

        The policeman gave the paper to my brother.

        And,

        The policeman gave the paper to me.

Then, the correct form in this case is:

        The policeman gave the paper to my brother and me.

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Mark Doyle writes articles for <a href="http://www.englishlci.com/esl-classes.html">esl classes</a>