Can’t decide whether to use me, myself, or I? We have an easy substitution trick to help you always know the answer.

I or Me

To check if you should use me or I when you need a pronoun to complete a group (John and me; Paul, James, and I), ask yourself if it sounds correct when you remove the other noun or pronoun.

Ex. #1 Bob and me saw Martians. (Incorrect)

This example is incorrect. If you removed Bob from the sentence, it would read Me saw Martians. The sentence should read Bob and I saw Martians.

Ex. #2 The kids splashed water on Sally and I. (Incorrect)

This example is incorrect; you would not say the kids splashed water on I. I should be replaced by me.

Ex. #2 The kids splashed water on Sally and me. (Correct)

Myself

There's an easy trick to remember when it comes to using myself: myself should only be used if you have referenced yourself previously in the sentence. It cannot be used as a substitution for me.

The following example is incorrect (again, try removing the noun):

Ex. John and myself went to the store. (Incorrect)

If the noun is removed from the sentence, the sentence reads: Myself went to the store. This use is incorrect, and myself should be replaced by I. (Why I instead of me? The same thing would happen if you replaced myself with me. Me went to the store is incorrect, as well. The correct sentence would read: John and I went to the store.)

Essentially, myself can only be used as a reflexive or intensive pronoun.    

Reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, yourself, herself, themselves) "reflect" the subject of the sentence and act as objects or complements to the verb (they complete the verb in some way).  They can also be objects of prepositions.

Ex. I wrote a note to myself not to forget my paper's due date.  Myself refers back to I and is used as the object of the preposition "to."

Intensive pronouns (myself, himself, etc.) are used for emphasis.

Ex. I myself took that package to the post office.

In addition to our own website, we also recommend the following website: http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/myself.html. This website goes into a bit more detail on the uses of me, myself, and I.

Choose whether the following sentence should use me, myself, or I.

1. The dog barked at Fred and (me, myself, I)
2. Bob and (me, myself, I) were abducted by Martians.
3. I thought the moon looked like cheese (me, myself, I)

Answers:

1. The dog barked at Fred and me.
2. Bob and I were abducted by Martians.
3. I thought the moon looked like cheese myself.

Grammatically Correct is a grammar tip of the week created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors at the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas.

Comments about this newsletter should be directed to Summer Leibensperger, leibenspergers@uhv.edu.

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