Me or I? Not Myself

The February issue of Vogue arrived, and I curled up to have a look at the super sexy dresses for spring. But first I read Anna Wintour’s account of Condé Nast’s relocation to 1 World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. “News of our move may or may not have come to your attention,” she wrote, “but for the Vogue staff and myself …”.

She didn’t trail off in mid-sentence, but that’s where I stopped reading, too distressed by her grammar glitch—right there in the letter from the editor—to continue. What she should have written was, “but for the Vogue staff and me… ”.

Me—like him, her, us, and them—is an object pronoun (as opposed to a subject pronoun, for example I) and is used in two important ways:

  •  Following prepositions like for, with, after, against, between

When the Cheney sisters—Liz and Mary—were feuding over Liz’s political position on gay marriage, a news commentator said, “I cannot believe there would be a breach between she and Mary,” instead of between Mary and her. (No matter what, a person’s name goes before the pronoun.)

  •  Following the verb—you could say as the recipient of the verb’s action. Have a look:

 When asked about new tennis star Madison Keys, veteran Venus Williams said, “Apparently she started playing because she watched Serena and I,” instead of because she watched Serena and me.

 Here’s a trick to help you remember whether to make it me or I: Drop the other person.

  •  Correct: Please accompany the president and me to the meeting.
    • Drop “the president,” and it’s clear you wouldn’t say, “Please accompany I to the meeting.”
  •  Correct : Michelle and I are going to the ball.
    • If you’re going to the ball on your own, you wouldn’t say, “Me is going…”.
  •  Correct : He told Mary and her to leave the room.
    • You would never say, “He told she to leave the room.”
  • Correct: He has something against you and me.
    • You wouldn’t say, “He has something against I.”

 

Myself, which is seldom right, often becomes the default, as it did for Ms. Wintour and for the great actress Frances McDormand when she accepted a Golden Globe last month. “Thank you for inviting Richard Jenkins and myself to the party,” she said, acknowledging her costar.

“Thank you for inviting Richard Jenkins and me to the party,” is what I know she meant to say.

 

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