Call me pedantic if you must, but here's my grammar pet peeve.

I'm no grammar guru, but there is one grammatical error that really bothers me: incorrectly writing, "So-and-so and I," instead of, "So-and-so and me." I'll take it's/its, their/there, or you're/your any day over "and I" when it should be "and me."

I suspect that my feelings about the incorrect use of "and I" are similar to the way some people feel about using comic sans serif.


The good news is that there is an easy way to get it right, and you don't have to understand the difference between objective and subjective pronouns. When deciding between, "Johnny and I," and "Johnny and me," mentally delete the words Johnny and. You'll instinctively know whether I or me makes sense. Then put the deleted words back in.

Example: Which is correct?

a)  Thank you for listening so carefully to Johnny and I.
b)  Thank you for listening so carefully to Johnny and me.

Solution:

Mentally delete the words Johnny and.


a)  Thank you for listening so carefully to Johnny and I.
b)  Thank you for listening so carefully to Johnny and me.
 
"Listening carefully to I," doesn't sound right. (That's because I is a subjective pronoun being used as the object of a preposition. What's needed is the objective pronoun me.) "Listening carefully to me," sounds fine. So (b) is correct.

Which of the following is correct?

a) Many people helped Owen and I with our move last year.
b) Many people helped Owen and me with our move last year.

The answer is (b).

Another approach is to decide whether it makes more sense to replace,"Johnny and I/me" with we or with us. The subjective pronoun we corresponds to, "Johnny and I," while us corresponds to, "Johnny and me."


Which of the following is correct?

a) I can't believe I just told you my secret! Let's keep it between you and I.
b) I can't believe I just told you my secret! Let's keep it between you and me.

The answer is (b).