Me, myself, I

By Mary Morel

I and me

Use I for the subject and me for the object in a sentence.

I walked the dog. She gave the ball to me.

I think most people don’t have any problem with those sorts of simple sentences. The difficulty arises when there’s someone else in the sentence as well.

Jane and I walked the dog. (correct)

Jane and me walked the dog. (incorrect)

She gave the ball to Jane and me. (correct)

She gave the ball to Jane and I. (incorrect)

The easiest way to see if you’re using the correct pronoun in these sentences is to remove ‘Jane’ and see what pronoun is left. That’s the correct one.

We usually put the other person before I or me.

Myself

Use myself to refer back to the subject of the sentence (it is a reflexive pronoun).

I gave myself a bunch of flowers for my birthday.

Do not use myself as a substitute for I or me. For instance, don’t say:

Please send this to myself. (incorrect)

You can also use myself as an intensifier.

I myself don’t like knitting.

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