Perplexing Pronouns Tips: When to Use “I” vs “Me”?

Understanding personal pronouns

Here’s a quick grammar quiz for you. Which of the two sentences below is correct?

Julia took Edward and I to the movies.
Julia took Edward and me to the movies.

While you might hear either of those sentences in conversation, only one of them is actually right. Do you know which? It’s the second sentence. Not sure why? Let’s take a closer look at these two, sometimes confusing, personal pronouns.

Common mistakes with ‘Me’ vs. ‘I’

Personal pronouns like I, me, his, she, their, and them don’t usually give writers much trouble:

I had a cup of coffee before leaving for work. (I is the subject of the sentence.)
They left me a note before leaving on vacation. (Me is the object of the verb left.)

Where things can start to get tricky, however, is when you have a sentence with two subjects or two objects joined by the word “and.” For example:

The stray cat followed Alex and I / Alex and me all the way down the street.
Anna and I / Anna and me decided to go for a walk.

A simple trick for choosing the right pronoun

The good news is that there’s a simple trick for figuring out which pronoun to use. All you have to do is remove the other person from the sentence. When you do, it immediately becomes obvious which pronoun is correct:

The stray cat followed me all the way down the street.
I decided to go for a walk.

The same then holds true when you add the other person back in:

The stray cat followed Alex and me all the way down the street.
Anna and I decided to go for a walk.

So when in doubt, simplify the sentence in question and you’ll find it much easier to figure out which pronoun is actually correct. If you want more grammar tips, make sure to check out the Grammar Guide for Busy People.

Examples of correct pronoun usage

The choice between using “I” and “me” depends on whether the pronoun is the subject or the object in a sentence.

Use “I” when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. The subject performs the action. For example:

• I went to the store
• John and I are going to the party.

Use “me” when the pronoun is the object of the sentence. The object receives the action. For example:

• The company gave me a contract
• She invited Malik and me to the networking dinner

Did you know that nearly two-thirds (64.6 percent) of companies either don’t check their content to ensure it contains the right terminology, or they rely on editors who don’t always catch everything their content style guide mandates?

Why pronoun accuracy matters

Pronoun accuracy is crucial because it ensures clear and effective communication, that upholds the standards of correct language. Using the correct pronouns helps avoid misunderstandings, maintains grammatically integrity, and shows respect for other peoples’ identities by using inclusive language.

In writing, precise pronoun use improves readability and professionalism, allowing readers to easily follow the subject and object of sentences. When it comes to personal pronouns, using someone’s pronouns accurately is simply a matter of listening to how someone describes themselves, and using those some pronouns to refer to them directly or with other people.

How Acrolinx helps with pronoun usage

That’s why you need Acrolinx. We love language, and our AI content governance software is helping people create content that is more findable, readable, and enjoyable. After defining your enterprise content guidelines, Acrolinx turns your guidelines into editorial assistance to help your writers create on-brand content across more than 50 authoring integrations. We can help you make sure you always use the right pronoun too!

Acrolinx’s AI Assistant and Get Suggestions help users write using the correct pronouns by analyzing the text and providing actionable writing suggestions for using the appropriate pronouns in a given context. This helps users ensure that their writing is consistent and follows the correct grammar rules for pronoun usage.

Learn about the importance of correctly managing your company’s words and phrases in our guide Strong Resources, Effective Terminology.