What to Do With Pronouns

“Me and my teammates….,” “My teammates and me…,” or “My teammates and I.” 

“Me and him,” “Him and I,” or “He and I?”

According to SHRM and AARP, a recent survey found that 45% of employers are providing training programs to enhance their employees’ grammar and other skills.

Just listen to the interviews with young athletes in the Olympics or during any sports interviews. Many of these stellar athletes make the grammar gaffes that you see above. What should we do with pronouns?

Sometimes, a simple grammatical error in your speech or writing can affect your credibility and image. Which of the phrases above is correct, why, and under what circumstances?

“Me and my teammates….”  Incorrect.

Never use “me” as a subject! It is an “object noun” and used as an object of a sentence (“Give me the answer”) or object of a preposition (“Give it to me“).

“My teammates and I…” – This is correct when used as the subject of the sentence, e.g., “My teammates and I trained for months.”

“My teammates and me..” – This would be correct when used as the object in a sentence, e.g., “They sent the uniforms to my teammates and me.”

Subject pronouns are “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “we,” and “they.”

Object pronouns are “me,” “him,” “her,” “us,”  and “them.”

We always say the other person first, e.g., “He and I attended the ceremonies,”  or “The torch was given to him and me.”

Here is a strategy:

If we take the other person away, which sounds better, “I” or “me?”  You wouldn’t say, “Give it to I.” Hopefully, this will help you navigate the confusion of pronouns!

There are many tools that can help us with grammar and our writing skills. One beneficial tool is Grammarly. It will prevent you from making errors in your email and social media posts.