Re: Me or I?

[Jeff Jansen <jsjansen -at- TELEPORT -dot- COM>]

Actually, Laurel's assessment is not strictly correct. "Me" is *not* the
object of this sentence. It is a predicate complement. The subject "it" and
the predicate complement "I" refer to the same thing. An object is the noun
that receives the action of the verb. Predicate complements take the
nominative case of the personal pronoun (I, you, she, it, we, they, you):

  I think it was *they* who called.
  Yes, it is *I*.

Jeff Jansen | Modest Systems / Portland, Oregon, USA
            | Superior Technical Communication in Ink and Pixels
            | "We're pretty darn good, but we don't mention it."
            | (503) 239-7520 www.teleport.com/~jsjansen



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Laurel Gilbert [mailto:Laurel -at- NICHE-ASSOCIATES -dot- COM]
> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 1999 11:55 AM
> Subject: Fwd: Re: Me or I?
>
>
> Forwarded, sorry.
>
> The sentence should read "It's just me."  Me is the object of the
> sentence.  When the personal pronoun is an object of the verb (or
> in a phrase modifiying the object of the verb), the word "me"
> should be used, and not "I".
>
> You don't say "he gave the book to I," you say "he gave the book
> to me."  Don't say "it scared I," it's "it scared me."
>
> Therefore, in "it's just me," "me" is the object of the verb "is"
> and should be me.
>
> Yeah, I'm a grammar geek.
>
> Laurel
>
>
> Laurel Gilbert, associate writer/editor
> laurel -at- niche-associates -dot- com
> Niche Associates
> Salt Lake City, Utah USA
> 801-572-7436
> http://www.niche-associates.com
>


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