I, Me, Mine, My, Myself

The other day, I was listening to The Beatles, and the song “I, Me, Mine” came up in the song mix. The grammar goblins in my head nudged me a bit, whispering, “Do it as a topic. Do it as a topic. Do it as a topic.” So, here we are today with me giving into peer pressure. Since most usage and style guides cover the topic similarly, I have included just a few references today.

I and Me

Overview

This is going to start with the most simplistic explanation about I and me; more detailed information follows in subsequent subsections. In a sentence, I is the subject that does the verb. Me is an object of either a verb or a preposition (Chicago 2017, 238–9; Garner 2003, 642–3; Sabin 2011, 329–32). Below are some examples.

• I went to the store. (subject)

• Either Liz or I will go to the meeting. (NOT: “Liz or me”)

• Susan thanked me for helping. (object of a verb)

• Please talk to me. (object of a preposition)

• Her mother gave a gift to Michelle and me. (NOT: “Michelle and I”)

• Let’s keep this between you and me. (NOT: “between you and I”)

More Details on I and Me

When considering accepted idiomatic English and grammatical English, clear-cut rules often get muddied. Grammatically, when a pronoun follows the verb to be, then the nominative form is considered proper (Chicago 239, Garner 470–1, Sabin 330). Therefore, It is I is “correct” since I functions as a predicate nominative. However, in general parlance, It is me is commonly accepted and has increasingly been appearing in written work, especially over the past fifty years (https://bit.ly/3yGZT41).

Than Comparisons

Whether to use I or me in comparative statements depends on the intended comparison. Both of these statements are correct, but they have different meanings.

• My brother looks more like my father than I.

• My brother looks more like my father than me.

Expanding the sentences best shows how they differ. In the first, the comparison is between the brother and the father: My brother looks more like my father than I do. In the second, the brother is being compared to the speaker: My brother looks more like my father than he looks like me (Chicago 239–40; Garner 643, 780).

Here is the complicated bit. The above examples demonstrate usage with than as a conjunction, which is the traditional usage. However, in more recent developments in English—by more recent, I mean since the sixteenth century—than has functioned as a preposition as well. When used as a preposition, then the only form that can be used is me as it would be the object of the preposition. Compare the following.

• He is hungrier than I [am]. (than as a conjunction)

• He is hungrier than me. (than as a preposition)

At the same time that both forms are accepted, a general recommendation is to use the conjunction form in formal, legal, and technical contexts to avoid ambiguity.

Oh My, Oh Mine

Both my and mine are possessive pronouns. My serves as a limiting adjective to modify nouns and always precedes a noun as in my cat and my dinner. (For clarification, my cat is not my dinner.) Mine is an independent or absolute possessive pronoun. It does not need an object. And it can even serve as a subject or an object itself (Chicago 241–2, Garner 624, Sabin 332).

• My brother went to Yale.

• Mine is over there. (mine as a subject indicating an understood item)

• Put her books with mine. (mine as an object of a preposition with context)

• This car is mine. (mine as an object of a verb with an antecedent)

Double possessives, which are also referred to as double genitives, occur when using the phrase of mine (Chicago 242, Garner 624). Even though this usage is widely accepted, some people think it is incorrect because of the inherent redundancy. The argument is that the preposition of implies possession, so adding mine to it is not good form. I can see the point to a certain extent, but the redundancy is sometimes needed, if not for clarification, then at least for emphasis.

• He is a good friend.

• He is a good friend of mine.

The two sentences have essentially the same meaning. However, the first depends on an understood context. Whose friend is he exactly? We don’t actually know without context. If we are talking about Liz and her friend group, then the meaning could be quite different than if we are talking about the speaker and his particular friend group. The prepositional phrase of mine in the second example eliminates the need for context.

Three Forms of Myself

Myself can be used in three ways—reflexively, intensively, and idiomatically.

A reflexive pronoun is used as the object of a verb to reflect back on the subject of the same verb (Chicago 242, Garner 535–6, Sabin 333–4).

• I found myself lost after an hour.

• I cut myself while chopping vegetables.

Myself can also be used as an intensifier for emphasis. After a couple of examples, I’ll show why and how this creates misunderstanding and lends itself to a prevalent oversight.

• I should have done that myself.

• I myself have been to the lake several times.

The second example above shows where a problem often arises. Because the intensifier is in apposition to I, it is technically in the nominative case. However, this does not mean that myself can be used as a first-person pronoun. Another similar issue occurs when using myself to replace the objective case me.

• Mary and I are going to the market. (NOT: “Mary and myself”)

• They made reservations for my wife and me. (NOT: “my wife and myself”)

The final way to use myself is in the idiom by myself, which means “alone.”

• I will go to lunch by myself.

References

The Chicago Manual of Style. 17th ed. 2017. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Garner, Bryan A. 2003. Garner’s Modern American Usage. New York: Oxford University Press.

Sabin, William A. 2010. The Gregg Reference Manual: A Manual of Style, Grammar, Usage, and Formatting—Tribute Edition. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.