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Key:

Hover over the grey underlined or bold words for pop-up notes.

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*Asterisk = examples of errors or poor constructions*.

Student Learning: Grammar

Sentence subjects - Lesson Three

  1. 3.1 Me:

    Problems with me are common because in the past it has been assumed that it is merely a less formal variety of I. This is definitely not the case. I is the subject of the sentence and me is always the object; both have very different functions. Below are examples of the use of me - in all of these examples it might be tempting to use I, but if you use the same little test from Sentence Subjects Lesson 2 to check them (by removing the other person/people in the sentence) you will see why they are correct.

They sent flowers to my mum and me.

The doctor saw my flatmates and me first.

The Prime Minister was waiting for the Queen and me.

Note: In many situations it is helpful to try both tests: 1) remove the extra people in the sentence, and if you're still worried 2) also swap me for I and back again and see how it sounds.

*The Prime Minister was waiting for  the Queen and  I.* (Note: Asterisks signal sentences with errors.)

The sentence below is especially tricky, but can be solved by both our tests

The Prime Minister was waiting for  the Queen and  me to finish eating lunch.

*The Prime Minister was waiting for  the Queen and  I to finish eating lunch.*

  1. 3.2 It is I or It is me:

    In fact it is correct to say 'It is I' rather than 'It is me'. This is because the "traditional grammar rule states when a pronoun follows a linking verb, such as is, it should be in the subject case" (Fogarty, 2007 Oct., para 3) - (new tab).
    The decision for you is whether you want to be grammatically accurate, or just to fit in with the way everyone around you is speaking? - both valid considerations. It depends (of course) on context.
    Take a look below at these correct examples (from Fogarty, 2007).

It must have been they.

It was we (who took the yacht on Sunday).