“Me” is Not a Bad Word (Ellen Kersey) 1 Reply .comments-link .entry-header By Ellen Kersey When Charley was a little lad playing outside with his friend Billy, he ran into the house and asked his mom, “Mommy, can me and Charley have a cookie?” His mom, wanting to help him with his grammar, said, “Can Charley and I have a cookie?” She corrected him for two reasons: (1) “I” is a subject pronoun, so he needed to use that word instead of “me” (an object pronoun); and (2) she wanted him to realize that he should put his friend, not himself, first in the conversation. It is my theory that this story of Charley and his mom could be the story of any kid and his or her mother. The mother’s intent was to help him correct his grammar. But, sadly, Charley intuitively thought his mom was telling him, “’Me’ is a bad word. I shouldn’t use it.” And thus we have become a nation of people, college graduates and high school dropouts included, who won’t use the word “me.” To escape it, we use “I,” in cases like these: INCORRECT: 1)      Mother took Sally and I to the movies. 2)      Please have your paper edited by Mr. Smith or I. 3)      Mrs. Brown gave the highest grades to Janice and I. Ask users why they used “I” instead of “me” in these cases, and the reply is usually, “It sounds better” or “It sounds nicer.” And once again, we can blame Charley’s mother, who was, of course, not at fault. How can we determine when to use “me”? In the examples above, eliminate the first part of the duo: would you say, “Mother took I to the movies”? Or “Please have your paper edited by I?” Or “Mrs. Brown gave the highest grade to I”? That’s the test! In each of these cases, it is natural to use “me.” You don’t need to understand subject and object pronouns (although that helps); in this case, you can do what sounds right, and it will be right. And it seems that me’s partner my is also having problems. In a recent Facebook posting, I read something like this: “Please help us since George’s and I’s jobs were lost after the business closed.”  And this comment was made by a college graduate! So remember … me and my are perfectly good words. You don’t want to say – like Tarzan – “Me like Jane,” but you do want to say “Jane likes me.” If you know the difference between a subject and an object, you will know that the “subject” is “I” and an object is “me.”  So the first sentence of the following correct sentences states that “Mother” (subject) “took” (verb) “Sally and me” (direct object) “to the movies.” CORRECT SENTENCES: 1)      Mother took Sally and me to the movies. 2)      Please have your paper edited by Mr. Smith or me. 3)      Mrs. Brown gave the highest grades to Janice and me.