Hi.
In this lesson you'll learn the difference between two confusing pronouns, and they are:
Okay?
Now, unfortunately, mistakes are being made everywhere with these two simple pronouns
Okay?
Whether you're reading on the internet, or whether you're watching a show, or anything
else, you'll see people making lots of mistakes here, so it's very important that you watch
this lesson so that you know what's right and you do you what's right, especially if
you're taking an exam, like the IELTS, or the TOEFL, or the TOEIC, or anything else;
or if you're applying for a job, because this kind of mistake is a very basic mistake, and
you don't want to make it ever.
Okay.
So, I'm going to show you exactly how to know when to use "I" and when to use "me".
Now, as I said, we are focusing on "I" and "me" here; we...
I do have another lesson in which I talk about all of the pronouns because sometimes all
of them are mixed up, and I'll give you a link to that in the lesson description so
you can watch that later if you want to get an overview of all of the pronouns, but let's
start with this important one because very often we are talking about ourselves, and
for that we need to say: "I" or "me".
So, first of all, both "I" and "me" are pronouns.
Okay?
Now, the pronoun basically takes the place of a noun.
That's a grammatical explanation; don't worry about it too much.
The most important thing that you have to remember here is that "I" is used as the subject
of a sentence, and it does the action in a sentence.
And "me" is an object; it receives the action of the sentence.
To understand exactly how that works, let's look at some examples.
So, here we said: "I called Steve."
"I called", so I am doing the action.
Whereas here: "Steve called me."
Now Steve is doing the action, so "Steve" is the subject, and "me", here, is the object.
Yes.
Okay?
Steve called me, so I received the action, I received the call.
Okay?
Here I made the call, so I did the action; there I received it.
Okay?
"I" is always going to be the one that does the action; "me" is the one that receives
All right, let's look at some more examples.
Okay?
Again, "I" is the subject, and so we used it here.
And here: "Mary talked to me."
So, here, we have "me", again, as the object which received the action.
"Mary".
"Mary" was the subject here; "Steve" was the subject here, but here we're focusing on:
"me".
Now, another clue to know that you need to use "me" and not "I" is because we see here
a preposition, right? "to".
So, whenever you see a preposition, after that what needs to follow is a object pronoun;
So: "to me", "for me", "before me", "after me", "with me", okay?
Or even here: "Steve called me.", "Steve texted me.", "Steve asked me.", "Steve answered me."
Okay?
And you'll see that it's usually at the end of the sentence, whereas the subject is at
the beginning of the sentence.
Okay.
This is when we have one subject or one object, so that's the basics.
Now, where do people make most of the mistakes?
When...
Somehow when we have multiple subjects or multiple objects.
So even though they know this rule, most of the time most people, somehow when there are
multiple subjects or objects, for some reason people get a little bit confused.
Let's clarify all your confusion right now.
So, let's look at this example: "Sarah and I are friends."
Okay?
So, here we had more than one subject; we had a compound subject.
But we still have to say: "I" because it's a subject.
Okay?
Not: "Sarah and me"; "Sarah and I".
Because...
And also, another way you can tell: Take out "Sarah", and then you say: "I am friends".
We don't say: "me am friends" or something like that.
So, you have to use "I" here, but let's look at the other side of the equation.
"The gift is from Sarah and me."
And, again, you saw here that there's a preposition, so that gave you a clue.
But: "Sarah and me", not "Sarah and I".
Also, what you can do here: Take out "Sarah".
"The gift is from I", no, we don't say that.
"from me", "to me", "for me", all that.
Okay?
So: "The gift is from Sarah and me."
Good.
Okay?
Not: "me had lunch"; "I had lunch".
Or here: "They promoted Bob and me."
Okay?
Okay?
"They" is the subject here, and this is the object.
There are multiple objects, but that's okay.
Even if it's a multiple object, it still needs to be "me" if you're deciding between "I"
Last one here: "You and I are in this photo."
Okay?
Now, also pay attention to the order, here.
I didn't say: "I and you", I didn't say: "I and Bob", I didn't say: "I and Sarah".
I said: "Sarah and I", "Bob and I", "You and I".
So, what's important is the "I" always comes last, whether you have...
Even if you had five people's names.
Or three people's names: "Bob, Sarah, and I", that "I" comes last because it's more
Okay.
So: "You and I are in this photo", and here it's the subject so we used "I".
But in this sentence: "It's you and me in this old photo."
Now, very often also after the verb "is" we use the object pronoun: "me".
Okay?
"It's you and me in this old photo."
We're going to find out in just a second when we do some examples.
Okay?
That's the best way to learn anything - lots of practice.
All right, so now let's start putting these words into real sentences.
Okay?
So, your choices are "I", which is for a subject or "me" if it's an object.
Okay?
"My friends and _____ planned the party."
Okay?
Because it's the subject of the sentence - you got it.
Next: "This shirt doesn't fit _____."
Okay?
Good.
"Jack and _____ met the client today."
It's the subject, and therefore we need to say: "I".
Okay?
Who's receiving the action in this sentence?
Number four: "Robert, Jane, and _____ work together."
Now we have several names in a row, but are they part of the subject or are they part
They are part of the subject, so therefore we have to say: "Robert, Jane, and I work
together."
Good.
No more of these basic mistakes for you - no way.
Number five: "She called _____ yesterday."
Okay?
So: "She" was the subject, "called" is the verb.
"me", so I received the action, so the word you have to use is "me", the object.
Good.
What?
Okay?
Again, you have a clue because you have the preposition "for"; "for me", "from me", "after
I know you might get tired of hearing it, but it's when you hear it again and again
that eventually it becomes a voice in your mind; not just my video, but in your mind
so that whenever you're going to speak or you're going to write, those word...
This word "me" will come to you automatically, which is what you want; the way it does in
Okay?
It will flow more easily, and you can say it.
Say it out loud as much as you can.
Say these sentences out loud to yourself.
Go back, watch the video again, and read the sentences.
The more you hear it, the more easily you will remember it and say the right things,
Next, number seven: "Bob and _____ are leaving early."
It's a subject, good, so we need to say: "I".
Okay?
"Bob and I are leaving early."
Good.
Last...
The last one here: "They thanked _____ many times."
Okay?
Okay?
It is an object, so we need to say: "me".
Okay?
But here's a little something that I think will help you to remember.
Okay?
I was going to tell you earlier, but I'm going to tell you now.
This is just a sentence you could say to yourself to help you remember whether to use "I" or
"me".
So, the sentence is: "I'll call you or you call me."
You see, here, it's the subject; here it's the object.
"I'll call you or you call me."
Thanks for watching all the way to the end because this is such an important subject.
You really don't want to make this kind of mistake ever in anything official.
It's different, even when you're speaking, speak correctly.
Okay?
Don't try to use slang, even if you hear people saying that.
This is sort of very fundamentally, important, correct English.
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Okay?
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Okay?
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Okay?
Thanks very much for watching.
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