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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Just one of the many.

I have a new pet peeve. I know I'm not perfect, and I'm sure I'm guilty of doing some things others loath. But, this is one that's just gotta be said.

There's an epidemic going on in the grammar world. I see it everyday. It's the "I" versus "Me" issue. The truth is, soooo many people have no idea when to use the subject pronoun "I" and when to use the object pronoun "me" in everyday language.

A good example would be the following. Suzy Q is on facebook. She tags a picture of herself and a friend. At the bottom, she titles the photograph "My friend and I."

AHHH. An offense has just been committed. MYTH: Saying "I" in all situations of grammar is appropriate and correct. After all, it's only polite to put yourself last and proper to use "I".
WRONG! Here's an easy way to know when you need to use "I" or "me".

Wrong sentence: "It's important to you and I" If you were to take out "to you" in that sentence, you would be left with, "It's important to I." That doesn't make any sense at all.

Right sentence: "It's important to you and me." Do the same exercise. Take out "to you" and you're left with "It's important to me." Ahhh, much better.

So, you're probably wondering why the heck I care so much? Well, I'm a bit neurotic, but I also care about grammar. And it gets me when I see sooo many people making this mistake. I know they think it makes them sound more educated, but really, to educated people, it just sounds stupid. It also gets me when I see people who are teachers making these mistakes. Call me a jerk, but I feel like if you're going to teach it, you, yourself, need to do it correctly.

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