When I was younger, if I ever announced that “Me and Chrissy went to school,” my parents would immediately correct me: “Chrissy and I went to school.”  It can be hard to remember which pronoun is correct in these compound structures.  Here’s a tip for choosing the proper one.

Use your ear. Read the sentence without the noun and see which pronoun fits.

Let’s do a test using our previous example.  Me and Chrissy went to school.   Does “Me went to school” sound right?  Wouldn’t we say, “I went to school”?  Therefore, it should be “Chrissy and I went to school.”

Here are a few more examples.

Leigh and me will make the reservations. Incorrect.

Leigh and I will make the reservations. Correct!

Ali threw a party for Stephanie and I. Incorrect.

Ali threw a party for Stephanie and me. Correct.

Brian met David and I at the restaurant. Incorrect.

Brian met David and me at the restaurant. Correct.

If you are a native English speaker, your ear can be an excellent tool for distinguishing the proper pronoun case.  Just remove the compound structure to avoid being confused.

In our next post, we’ll go over the reason this trick works.

Tags: grammar, pronouns

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