Is there any underlying rule for usage of I/me/myself?
Hi,
Recently I visited this website and found very helpful. I wanted to know the rule or may be some trick to remember the usage of I/me/myself.
Most of the times I tend to get confused about it and end up using wrong thing.
Could you post some suggestions?
Myself have no problem with that.
Yes, there is a rule:
'I' is used as the subject of the sentence, as in 'I find it', because it's the 'I' who is doing the finding.
'Me' is used as the direct object of the sentence, when the subject is different, as in 'she finds me'.
'Myself' is used as the direct object of the sentence, when the subject and the direct object are the same, as in 'I find myself'.
Hope this helps!
Thanks Caspian! The rules are quite explicit and easy to remember.
When to use "himself" and "hiself"?
He finds himself
or
He finds hisself
He hisself finds it.
He himself finds it.
????
Caspian,
"Me and him went to the store."
The above sentence sounds natural to native speakers: It sounds more casual than "He and I went to the store."
@beneficii:
Sorry, but that just sounds like broken English, or the type of mistake someone in Kindergarden would make. It doesn't make it sound more casual.
I recommend "Him and I went to the store."
a,
I am willing to bet you are a non-native speaker.
I guess, as per the underlying rules we shall stick to He and I went to the store.
Him or me will come in picture only when we are using them as object. In above sentence he and I are completely subjects and not the objects.
Any comments....
''Me and Jane went to the store'' does not sound substandard, it's a part of standard colloquial American English. No one would ever question it (just like ''Better than me'' or ''It's me''). Some colloquial forms are ''tolerable'' (It's me, better than me, Me and Jane went to the store), some are not (she ain't come, he don't know).
I am a native speaker.
'Him and I wend to the store' and 'Me and him' went to the store are both incorrect, and not acceptable. There is also a rule which states that the first person must come last.
The correct form:
He and I went to the store.
You'll hear "me" used as a subject relatively frequently, but you should try and avoid it... Many Americans won't notice, but many will.
"That's me" is acceptable, so is "more than me," although less so. With "that's me" I think this is something English has pulled from French influence ("c'est moi," not "c'est je") along with "I'm well" instead of the more grammatically correct "I'm good."
Caspian,
I was being descriptive, not prescriptive.
Perhaps so, beneficii - but I was pointing out that your claim that this incorrect sentence sounds correct to native speakers is false.