I recently received an email with the following request, and I decided to answer it here:
Please clarify this sentence for me:
In emails between Sue and I…
Or;
In emails between Sue and me…
Thanks,
Adele
Thanks for the email, Adele. The quick answer to your question is that you want the latter.
One trick to remembering is switching Sue and the pronoun:
- In emails between I and Sue . . .
- In emails between me and Sue . . .
See how the second sounds better?
Another trick is removing Sue altogether:
- In emails between I . . .
- In emails between me . . .
The first example just doesn’t work.
Now for the long answer.
When to use I
I is the nominative first-person pronoun. This means that we use it when referring to the subject of the sentence:
- I went to the store.
- I am baking a cake.
- I will return before supper.
In all three examples, the pronoun refers to the thing in the sentence doing the action (i.e. going, baking, returning). Whenever you refer to yourself as the subject of a sentence—the thing performing the action in the sentence—use I.
When to use me
Me is the objective first-person pronoun. This means that we use it when referring to an object of the sentence.
- They sent a letter to me.
- You love me.
- She pitched the ball to me.
In all three examples, the pronoun refers to the thing in the sentence having the action (i.e. sending, loving, pitching) done to it. Whenever you refer to yourself as an object of a sentence—a thing that is having something done to it by something else—use me.
In Adele’s example, the emails are the subject, which makes the speaker the object, so we need me.
I hope this answers your question, Adele. If anyone else has a writing or grammar question, email it to me at info@hotpepper.ca or post it in a comment below.
