Dear World,

Back in the day, you may have said something like "Me 'n Kaylie went to the store." Your mother may have given you a funny look and said, "Mean Kaylie? I think Kaylie's very nice. Don't you mean Kaylie and I?" You may have rolled your eyes, said, "Yes, Mom," and cemented it in your brain that "I" (or "myself") was always appropriate.

You would have been wrong.

Let's say that Jennie comes to the store now. "Jennie went to the store with Kaylie and I." Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!!!! You don't say, "Jennie went to the store with I," so why is it okay if you stick a Kaylie in front?

[Insert grammar babble about subject vs direct object and mention that "myself" is reflexive, so don't use it unless you've already referred to yourself.] If you don't want to be bothered with grammar rules, just remember this: If you're at the beginning of the sentence, use "I." If you're at the end of the sentence, use "me."

Or even better: If you leave the other person out, would you naturally say "me" or "I"? That should solve the mystery.

I believe that if we all fix this problem, the it's/its and your/you're and definately/defiantly/definutly/definitely issues will melt away as surely as the murder rates decreased in NYC when they fixed up the subway windows.

And speaking of murder, every time you use "I" when you should use "me," Shakespeare kills a kitten. Think about that the next time you go to the store with Kaylie.

Sincerely,

a girl who used to read grammar books for fun


ps: this doesn't give all you real English majors permission to peruse my blog for bad punctuation, overuse of parentheses, or bad word choice. It's been a long time since I read those books.


pps: Thanks to Kaylie and Jennie for helping out with my demonstration