Me and My or Me and I: Which is Correct and Why?

Me and My or Me and I can be confusing, especially when you’re a beginner at learning English. ‘I’ and ‘Me’ are interchangeably used many times.

Let us understand with an example –

“Me and My friends went to the mall.” — incorrect

“My friends and I went to the mall.” — correct

In this article, we’ll understand the difference between Me and My or Me and I and which is correct and why?

Me and My or Me and I

The main difference between ‘me’ and ‘I’ is that ‘me’ is an object pronoun and ‘I’ is a subject pronoun.

Example –

1. “I went to the store last night.”

‘I’ is the subject of the sentence and ‘store’ is the object.

“He came to the store with me.”

‘He’ is the subject and ‘me’ is the object.

1. “He runs just as fast as I do.”

This is correct because the sentence does not have an object.

Hence, “He runs just as fast as me” would be wrong.

Correct usage of ‘I’

‘I’ is a nominative pronoun used as a subject of the sentence.

Example –

1. I attended the party.

‘I’ is the subject i.e. doer of the action ‘attend’.

1. It is I who attended the party.
   Most people say “It was me” or “It’s me”. However, that is wrong in formal English.

The correct usage is as stated in example 1.

Correct usage of ‘me’

‘Me’ is an objective pronoun used as the object of a sentence.

Example –

1. Raghav attended the party with me.

The subject is ‘Raghav’ and the object is ‘me’

The same sentence can be written using ‘I’ as — “Raghav and I attended the party yesterday.” But in this case, there will be two subjects — ‘Raghav’ and ‘I’.

1. The task was given to me by the manager.

Or

The manager gave me the task.

The pronoun ‘me’ is always used in reported speech or passive voice.

Correct usage of Me and I in sentences

Let’s take a look at more examples to clearly understand the difference.

1. I visited the bar yesterday.
2. Maria and I love to go for evening walks.
3. I called Antara to help me with my work.
4. She baked a cake for me.
5. I shouldn’t have expected anything good out of this.
6. Suman called to wish me on my birthday.
7. It is not I whom you should blame.
8. You should not be blaming me.

Using ‘me’ and ‘I’ interchangeably may not matter much in the colloquial use of the English language. However, it is imperative that you carefully consider and make the right choice among the two words while formally communicating your message. With more practice and a thorough understanding of pronouns, you should be able to avoid making this error.