The misuse of the compound subject construction is a common mistake. Look at the following examples and identify the correct sentence:
Only one of the above sentences is correct. If you chose the first one, great! But can you explain why the other two examples are wrong? Well, I'm going to tell you:
What we learned today:
I hope you enjoyed this mini-lesson! You may find the printable version of this lesson here. =)
- Pip and I went to meet Jaggers.
- Jaggers gave Pip and I an icy stare.
- Jaggers then took a picture of Pip and I.
Only one of the above sentences is correct. If you chose the first one, great! But can you explain why the other two examples are wrong? Well, I'm going to tell you:
- "Pip and I went to meet Jaggers." Here, Pip and I functions as a compound subject. Pip and I share the same verb, which is went in this case. They both went to see Jaggers. Let's pretend that Pip didn't go see Jaggers. Then you would say, "I went to see Jaggers," but not, "Me went to see Jaggers."
- "Jaggers gave Pip and I an icy stare." In this example, Pip and I is meant to function as a compound indirect object, which means that they receive something from the doer of the action. In this case, they receive an icy stare (direct object) from Jaggers (subject). Let's say Pip wasn't there. Would you say, "Jaggers gave I an icy stare"? Absolutely not. Therefore, the sentence should read, "Jaggers gave Pip and me an icy stare."
- "Jaggers then took a picture of Pip and I." Getting tired of the grammatical explanations? Ok, just go for the short-cut and kick Pip to the curb again (poor Pip). Would you say, "Jaggers then took a picture of I"? No, nope, non. You would say, "Jaggers then took a picture of me."
What we learned today:
- Be mindful of who the doer of the action is, and who the recipient of the action is.
- Test the sentence by getting rid of one of the subjects/objects (remember how we kept kicking Pip out of the picture?)
- Be careful about making people say "--and I". For example, if someone says, "My mother threw a party for Pip and me," don't tell them, "for Pip and I," because that's just wrong, oki doki?
- Jaggers is one strange dude.
I hope you enjoyed this mini-lesson! You may find the printable version of this lesson here. =)