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Which Pronoun is Correct: I or Me?

English has eight subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they. Subject pronouns show the actor (or doer) in a sentence. For example, in the sentence “I speak English,” “I” is the actor (doer).

English also has eight object pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, you and them. We use an object pronoun to show the receiver of the action in a sentence, as in “She gave the book to me.” In that sentence, “me” is the receiver.

People often confuse subject pronouns and object pronouns in sentences with two receivers.

Take the sentence “President Obama gave an award to my brother and me.” We can easily see the need for an object pronoun because of the preposition “to.”

A simple way to check for the correct pronoun in a case like this is mentally to eliminate the second person. Try saying in your head “A guest asked me how we met,” or, “A guest asked a friend how we met.” That simple check makes choosing the correct pronoun easier.

Now you will always know the right pronoun to use.