Sunday, May 09, 2004

Rant time

People try to sound sophisticated by saying "and I" instead of "and me." The problem is they apply "and I" like it's supposed to take the place of "and me" in every situation, and it sounds worse than if they just stuck with "and me" every time (spoken English has a lot of "and me" in the wrong place and it sounds fine). People also use "whom" in the wrong place.

When to use "and I" and when to use "and me."
* Use "and I" whenever you'd use "I" if you were just talking about yourself.
* Use "and me" whenever you'd use "me" if you were just talking about yourself.

Examples:
Sheila and I went to the store. (You'd say "I went to the store" if it were just you.)
The game went well for Bob and me. (You'd say "The game went well for me" if it were just you.)
Dead or alive, you're coming with Robocop and me. (*You* might not say "Dead or alive, you're coming with me," but that would be the correct way to say it.)

When to use "whom"
* Use "whom" whenever you'd answer the sentence with "him". Even if it's not a him (maybe it's a her, or an it, or a them), just pretend it's a him while you're formulating the sentence. It makes this way easier.
* Use "who" whenever you'd use "he." Again, pretend it's a him.

Examples:
Who went to the store? (You'd answer with "he went to the store.")
Whom did the game go well for? (You'd answer with "the game went well for him.")
Who is it? (The correct way to answer is "it is he." See below.)

Special note: If your sentence has a "is," "are," "am," or "be," it starts to get complicated, because then you just use "who." Some crap about "intransitive verbs" applies here. Basically, this means you can ask "who is it?" even though you might answer, "it's him." The problem is that "it's him" is incorrect. As your mom might have told you, you're supposed to say "it is he."

By the way, I don't usually follow these rules. I stick to "who" and "me and," the grammar of champions. I just get annoyed when people decide they'll universally use "and I" instead of "and me," which means they're just wrong the other way around. Only now they sound weird.

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