Yesterday, CBS Sunday Morning presented a segment on a topic about which Rhonda and I had often commented to one another for several years–misuse of first-person personal pronouns. Many years ago folks used to use ‘me’ when it should have been ‘I’. Apparently there was a great deal of scolding by English teachers to be more accurate. Well, it backfired. What happened is that people all over America, at least, began using ‘I’ in sentences which clearly called for ‘me’.
How many times have your heard someone say something like, “It is best for you and I to go together” or even worse, “Mother made these cookies for Johnny and I to eat.”?
As aptly pointed out on CBS Sunday Morning, “The simple rule is to say the sentence leaving out the other person.” You wouldn’t say, “That is best for ‘I’ to go,” or Mother made these cookies for ‘I’ to eat.”
You would naturally say ‘me’ in these cases. ‘I’ would be proper in sentences like “You and I are both young at heart.”
So next time you think about using ‘I’ think about this rule! Have a great week!