“What’s the difference between ‘you and I’ and ‘you and me’? Can I use them interchangeably?”
Raise your hands if you’ve been asking the same question. I know I did. hands up After some research, I finally understand that the two are being used differently. Here is how they differ:
‘U & I’ as subjects can be replaced by ‘we’ whilst ‘U & me’ as objects can be replaced by ‘us.’ They can’t be used interchangeably. – @cherryadnan
That’s right. We must first distinguish Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns.
Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns
Subject Pronouns are the ones doing the action in sentences. List of subject pronouns:
While Object Pronouns are the ones receiving the action. List of object pronouns:
‘You and I’ or ‘You and me’
A. To decide whether it’s ‘you and I’ or ‘you and me,’ then see if it plays the role of a subject or object in the sentence.
- “You and I got to stay for a while and see if we are going to see tomorrow.” (from that Graham Coxon song)
- “You and I” is the subject in the sentence.
- “The teacher should give you and me an equal treatment.”
- “You and me” is the object in the sentence.
Important note: Never use ‘you and I’ at the end of a sentence, never use ‘you and me’ at the beginning of a sentence.
B. Another way to determine whether it is ‘I’ or ‘me’ – Check the prepositions!
- Prepositions: At-For-With-By-To-From-Between … and many more that are most likely end with Object Pronouns!
Extra – #EngVocab:
- Interchangeably. Arti: bisa dipakai bergantian, jadi arti dan penggunaannya sama saja
- Equal treatment. Arti: diperlakukan sama.
- #GrammarTrivia: Compound possession
- #GrammarTrivia: ‘I’ and ‘me’
- #EngClass: Indefinite pronoun [some(one, body, thing), any(one, body, thing), no(one, body, thing), every(one, body, thing)]
- #WOTD: Nominee, nominator, nomination
- #EngQAs: Grammar