Today’s practical grammar tip is about I vs. me. Unfortunately, too many people use I incorrectly. Another conversation between Megan and Kayla should clear up how to not make this error.

“How dare you date my sister and I at the same time!” the indignant woman shouted before she hurled her wine glass at the lounge lizard looking man across the table.

Megan pressed the mute button on the TV remote.

Kayla smiled and shook her head. “Here it comes.”

Megan wielded the remote like a pointer and aimed it at the screen. “Do the writer’s even care about their scripts containing correct grammar?”

Kayla shrugged. “Maybe they intended for this overly dramatic and shallow character to not care about correct grammar. Just to be clear, though, what was her error?”

Megan leaned forward in her recliner. “How could you miss it? She said, ‘How dare you date my sister and I.’ She should have said, ‘my sister and me’ instead.”

Kayla sighed. “I hear people use I instead of me all the time. How do you know what’s correct?”

“People use I because they think it makes them sound intelligent. When they misuse it, they prove their ignorance.” Megan huffed in disgust. “Knowing what’s correct is easy. Break the question up like this: How dare you date my sister? How dare you date I? No. How dare you date me.”

Kayla nodded. “That’s easy to do.”

“Another rule to remember is the pronoun I is a subject pronoun, so if you use it, a verb needs to follow it. Here’s an example:  My sister and I detest you for dating both of us at the same time. On the other hand, a verb will come before the pronoun me.”

“So, I do something, but something is done to me,” Kayla surmised.

“Exactly. People usually don’t have an issue unless they are talking about more than one person. Most people don’t say, ‘Me want to go to the store.’ They use I. And they usually won’t say, ‘The book belongs to I.’ Obviously, the book belongs to me is correct. But they’ll say, ‘The book belongs to Mary and I.’ Go figure?”

Kayla pointed at the remote. “You and I should finish watching this cheesy show to see what this drama queen does when her date’s identical twin brother and her sister walk into the restaurant.”

“Afterwards, I hope the predictable plot doesn’t have a dumbing effect on you and me.” Megan smirked and unmuted the TV.

I hope this clears up any confusion. I’ll continue to post tips periodically.