Pronoun ‘ I ‘ or ‘ me ‘

Proper usage of I or me

FROM each pair of sentences below,

which one is correct?

a.      Is that you, John? ~ Yes, it is I.

         Is that you, John? ~ Yes, it is me.

b.       Who is at the door? ~ Me.

           Who is at the door? ~ I.

c.        Who invited Terry? ~ Me.

           Who invited Terry? ~ I did.

d.         It is me who said that.

             It is I who said that.

2. Should “I” be used with “who”, and “me” with “whom”?

For example,

                 “It was me whom they scolded”.

What about the following sentences:

          It’s me who’s driving a car.

          It’s I who am going to do that.

1. Some of the sentences above are incorrect.

Others are correct either in a formal situation or an informal one.

  1. a.  The answer to “Is that you, John?”

               is likely to be “Yes, it’s me.”

               (informal and more often used)

               rather than “Yes, it is I.” (very formal).

 If someone calls someone else “John”,

 rather than “Dr Lim” or “Mr Brown”,

 for example, the two people must know each other well enough to speak to each other in informal terms.

 

  1. b.      “Who is at the door? ~ Me.” 

              is correct in an informal style.

                    Who is at the door? ~ I.”

                     is incorrect in a formal style.

It should be:

                    “Who is at the door? ~ I am.”

 

  1. c.    Both sentences are correct, but:

              “Who invited Terry? ~ Me.” is informal

              “Who invited Terry? ~ I did.” is formal.

 

  1. d.    Both sentences here are incorrect,

                not because of their pronouns,

but because of the tense of the first verb in each sentence. The first verb should be in the past tense,

like the second verb.

The sentences would then read:

   (i)        “It was me who said that.”

  (ii)       “It was I who said that.”

More of I and me

Could you clarify whether the subject or

object pronoun is used in this sentence?

 “Timothy is taller than I” or

“Timothy is taller than me”?

I have been taught that the former is correct.

        “Timothy is taller than me.”

is correct in informal speech or writing.

“Timothy is taller than I am.”

 is correct in formal speech or writing.

Don’t forget the verb “am” after the pronoun “I”.

 

By Fadzilah Amin

http://thestar.com.my/english/story.asp?file=/2011/6/23/lifefocus/8924297&sec=lifefocus

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