Tricky Pronouns: ‘I’ or ‘ME’?

Hi.

I'm Rebecca from engVid.

In this lesson you'll learn the difference between two confusing pronouns, and they are:

"I" and "me".

Okay?

Now, unfortunately, mistakes are being made everywhere with these two simple pronouns

Okay?

Whether you're reading on the internet, or whether you're watching a show, or anything

else, you'll see people making lots of mistakes here, so it's very important that you watch

this lesson so that you know what's right and you do you what's right, especially if

you're taking an exam, like the IELTS, or the TOEFL, or the TOEIC, or anything else;

or if you're applying for a job, because this kind of mistake is a very basic mistake, and

you don't want to make it ever.

Okay.

So, I'm going to show you exactly how to know when to use "I" and when to use "me".

All right?

So, let's have a look.

Now, as I said, we are focusing on "I" and "me" here; we...

I do have another lesson in which I talk about all of the pronouns because sometimes all

of them are mixed up, and I'll give you a link to that in the lesson description so

you can watch that later if you want to get an overview of all of the pronouns, but let's

start with this important one because very often we are talking about ourselves, and

for that we need to say: "I" or "me".

All right?

Here we go.

So, first of all, both "I" and "me" are pronouns.

Okay?

Now, the pronoun basically takes the place of a noun.

All right?

That's a grammatical explanation; don't worry about it too much.

The most important thing that you have to remember here is that "I" is used as the subject

of a sentence, and it does the action in a sentence.

All right?

And "me" is an object; it receives the action of the sentence.

All right?

To understand exactly how that works, let's look at some examples.

So, here we said: "I called Steve."

And "I" is the subject.

Right?

"I called", so I am doing the action.

Whereas here: "Steve called me."

Now Steve is doing the action, so "Steve" is the subject, and "me", here, is the object.

Right?

Yes, I heard you say that.

Yes.

It's correct.

Okay?

Steve called me, so I received the action, I received the call.

Okay?

Here I made the call, so I did the action; there I received it.

Got it?

It's always like that.

Okay?

"I" is always going to be the one that does the action; "me" is the one that receives

the action.

All right, let's look at some more examples.

"I talked to Mary."

Okay?

Again, "I" is the subject, and so we used it here.

And here: "Mary talked to me."

All right?

So, here, we have "me", again, as the object which received the action.

Who is the subject here?

"Mary".

All right?

"Mary" was the subject here; "Steve" was the subject here, but here we're focusing on:

What's the object?

"me".

Now, another clue to know that you need to use "me" and not "I" is because we see here

a preposition, right? "to".

So, whenever you see a preposition, after that what needs to follow is a object pronoun;

not the subject pronoun.

So: "to me", "for me", "before me", "after me", "with me", okay?

All that kind of thing.

Or even here: "Steve called me.", "Steve texted me.", "Steve asked me.", "Steve answered me."

Okay?

But, again: "me", "me", "me".

All right?

When it's...

And you'll see that it's usually at the end of the sentence, whereas the subject is at

the beginning of the sentence.

Okay.

So, that's the basic stuff.

This is when we have one subject or one object, so that's the basics.

Now, where do people make most of the mistakes?

When...

Somehow when we have multiple subjects or multiple objects.

So even though they know this rule, most of the time most people, somehow when there are

multiple subjects or objects, for some reason people get a little bit confused.

So, that's okay.

Let's clarify all your confusion right now.

So, let's look at this example: "Sarah and I are friends."

Okay?

So, here we had more than one subject; we had a compound subject.

But we still have to say: "I" because it's a subject.

Okay?

"Sarah and I".

All right?

Not: "Sarah and me"; "Sarah and I".

Because...

And also, another way you can tell: Take out "Sarah", and then you say: "I am friends".

Right?

We don't say: "me am friends" or something like that.

So, you have to use "I" here, but let's look at the other side of the equation.

"The gift is from Sarah and me."

All right?

And, again, you saw here that there's a preposition, so that gave you a clue.

Right?

But: "Sarah and me", not "Sarah and I".

Also, what you can do here: Take out "Sarah".

"The gift is from I", no, we don't say that.

"The gift is from me".

"from me", "to me", "for me", all that.

Okay?

So: "The gift is from Sarah and me."

All right?

Got it?

Good.

Next: "Bob and I had lunch."

Okay?

Again, subject: "Bob and I".

"I had lunch".

Not: "me had lunch"; "I had lunch".

Or here: "They promoted Bob and me."

Okay?

Again, receiving the action.

Okay?

"They" is the subject here, and this is the object.

There are multiple objects, but that's okay.

Even if it's a multiple object, it still needs to be "me" if you're deciding between "I"

and "me".

Last one here: "You and I are in this photo."

Okay?

"You and I".

All right?

Now, also pay attention to the order, here.

I didn't say: "I and you", I didn't say: "I and Bob", I didn't say: "I and Sarah".

I said: "Sarah and I", "Bob and I", "You and I".

So, what's important is the "I" always comes last, whether you have...

Even if you had five people's names.

Right?

Or three people's names: "Bob, Sarah, and I", that "I" comes last because it's more

polite like that.

Okay.

So: "You and I are in this photo", and here it's the subject so we used "I".

But in this sentence: "It's you and me in this old photo."

It is who? "you and me".

Now, very often also after the verb "is" we use the object pronoun: "me".

Okay?

"It's me".

Not: "It's I"; "It's me".

"It's you and me in this old photo."

Did you get that?

We're going to find out in just a second when we do some examples.

Okay?

Some practice.

That's the best way to learn anything - lots of practice.

We're going to do that.

All right, so now let's start putting these words into real sentences.

Okay?

So, your choices are "I", which is for a subject or "me" if it's an object.

Okay?

Here we go.

"My friends and _____ planned the party."

Should it be "I" or "me"?

"My friends and I".

Okay?

Because it's the subject of the sentence - you got it.

Next: "This shirt doesn't fit _____."

"I" or "me"?

"This shirt doesn't fit me."

Okay?

Again, receiving the action.

All right?

Good.

"Jack and _____ met the client today."

"I" or "me"?

Think about it.

Is it a subject?

Is it an object?

What is it?

Is it doing the action?

Is it receiving the action?

It's the subject, and therefore we need to say: "I".

Okay?

"Jack and I met the client."

Who's receiving the action in this sentence?

Who's the object?

It's the client.

Right? "met the client".

All right.

Number four: "Robert, Jane, and _____ work together."

Is it "I" or "me"?

Think about it.

Now we have several names in a row, but are they part of the subject or are they part

of the object?

They are part of the subject, so therefore we have to say: "Robert, Jane, and I work

together."

You got it.

Good.

No more of these basic mistakes for you - no way.

All right.

Number five: "She called _____ yesterday."

"I" or "me"?

Is it a subject?

Is it an object?

Think.

"She called me".

Okay?

So: "She" was the subject, "called" is the verb.

Right?

And called who?

"me", so I received the action, so the word you have to use is "me", the object.

Good.

"Is this for _____?"

What?

Blank.

Is it "I" or "me"?

"Is this for me?"

Okay?

Again, you have a clue because you have the preposition "for"; "for me", "from me", "after

me", "with me".

Right?

I know you might get tired of hearing it, but it's when you hear it again and again

that eventually it becomes a voice in your mind; not just my video, but in your mind

so that whenever you're going to speak or you're going to write, those word...

This word "me" will come to you automatically, which is what you want; the way it does in

your own language.

Okay?

It will flow more easily, and you can say it.

Say it out loud as much as you can.

Say these sentences out loud to yourself.

Go back, watch the video again, and read the sentences.

Read the correct sentences.

The more you hear it, the more easily you will remember it and say the right things,

or write the correct ones.

Next, number seven: "Bob and _____ are leaving early."

"I" or "me"?

Think about it.

Is it a subject?

Is it an object?

It's a subject, good, so we need to say: "I".

Okay?

"Bob and I are leaving early."

Good.

Last...

The last one here: "They thanked _____ many times."

Okay?

"I" or "me"?

Is it a subject?

Is it an object?

Okay?

It is an object, so we need to say: "me".

"They" is the subject here.

Okay?

"me" is the object.

"They thanked me many times."

All right.

I think you've got this.

All right?

It's so important.

But here's a little something that I think will help you to remember.

Okay?

I was going to tell you earlier, but I'm going to tell you now.

This is just a sentence you could say to yourself to help you remember whether to use "I" or

"me".

So, the sentence is: "I'll call you or you call me."

All right?

You see, here, it's the subject; here it's the object.

"I'll call you or you call me."

All right.

Sounds good.

Thanks for watching all the way to the end because this is such an important subject.

You really don't want to make this kind of mistake ever in anything official.

It's different, even when you're speaking, speak correctly.

Okay?

Don't try to use slang, even if you hear people saying that.

Don't do that.

This is sort of very fundamentally, important, correct English.

All right?

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