Stupid Grammar Thing that Bugs Me Every Single Time
Listen all you dandy high talkers, most of you get this grammar point wrong. Every. Time. You think you sound better educated when using the following pronouns incorrectly. In fact you are just wrong. Sure, sure, you went to Harvard and are running for president. Even though our current president only speaks "Texas Hillbilly," you don't get a pass to speak incorrectly.
Today, I am officially launching my "Say it right!" campaign. Right here. Right now. We need to come together - not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans - to put an end to this sickening abuse of our beautiful language. I am dropping everything, including my scheduled appearance at "Comcast Newsmakers" this afternoon, to rally my colleagues in Washington around this crisis. Our entire way of life is at stake.
NOT Correct:
The people want to hear from him and I. She gave the money to Bob and I. Sock it to her and I.
Correct:
The people want to hear from him and me. She gave the money to Bob and me. Sock it to her and me.
Why the first sentences are wrong:
You would never ever say the following sentences or any number of people would kick your ass for sounding snooty. At best. The people want to hear from I. She gave the money to I. Sock it to I.
Instead you would say: The people want to hear from me. She gave the money to me. Sock it to me.
Just because you put another noun or pronoun in front of "me" doesn't mean that you change the pronoun to "I." You simply don't change it.
Let's review Jr. High grammar.
"I" is a subject pronoun, meaning that it performs actions. I gave to the Obama campaign. I think Sarah Palin is a hack. I want that jerk McCain to show up and debate because I have been waiting all week.
"Me," on the other hand, is an object pronoun, meaning that it sits on the receiving end of the action. Obama inspires me. The prospect of Sarah Palin as president keeps me up at night. McCain is clearly not looking out for me and my bottom line.
Granted there are some times when "I" would appear as an object, but only after verbs that describe states of being such as: "is," "seem," "appear," etc. And there are a couple of words, namely "than" and "as", that are also followed by subject pronouns. Nevertheless, most of the time, use "me."
I realize that this is apropos to nothing, especially since I haven't blogged in months. This is what I think about instead of designing the logo that was due ages ago. Now that this is off my shoulders, I can get back to me over-booked work life. Cheers.
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