It’s challenging to know when to use “and I” and “and me” in a sentence. Although we write and pronounce each differently and sometimes use them interchangeably or in the wrong context, these pronouns share the same essential meaning. So, between “and I” and “and Me,” how do we know which one is correct to say?
“And I” is correct when it is part of a compound subject, while “and me” is correct when it is part of a compound object. Both are first-person singular pronouns that we can combine with an additional noun or pronoun using the conjunction “and.” The difference lies in the subjective vs. objective pronoun case.
This article can help those who want to know the differences between these two phrases and apply them for personal or professional use. Read on to learn more about “and I” and “and Me.”
Is It Correct to Say “and I” or “and Me”?
“I” is a first-person subject pronoun, while “me” is a first-person object pronoun. Thus, both “and I” or “and me” are correct to use in a sentence when speaking about ourselves so long as we use them in the proper place.
The correct way to use these phrases depends on whether you are the subject or the statement’s object. We use “I” as the sentence’s subject and the “me” as the sentence’s object (source).
“I” As a Subject Pronoun
This means the individual represented by “I” can perform the action in a statement, whereas the subject acts on the object “me.” Therefore, it is correct to say “and I” in a statement where the speaker performs the action with another individual.
“I” is a first-person subject pronoun, and we use “I” as the subject of a sentence. The subject in a sentence is a person or thing performing the action or being something (source). So, “and I” is correct to use in the subject form in a statement.
- I drove to the movies.
In this instance, “I” is the subject of the sentence, meaning “I” is the person who is driving to the movies.
“Me” As an Object Pronoun
It is correct to say “and me” when we are using the pronoun “me” in a statement where the speaker receives the verb’s action, whether it is directly or indirectly, in some manner.
“Me” is a first-person object pronoun. In an active voice sentence, the object is the person or thing that receives the action from the subject. So, we use “Me” as the direct or indirect object of a verb or of a preposition in a sentence.
“And me” is correct when we use the object form.
Example: My professor taught me.
In this instance, “me” is the direct object of the verb “taught,” meaning “me” is not the one teaching but indicates the recipient of teaching.
Example: The airline sent a ticket to me.
In this instance, “me” is the object of the preposition “to.”
We can also rewrite the sentence without the preposition “to” and use “me” as the indirect object of the verb “sent” to determine whether “me” is correct to use.
If we remove the preposition “to,” we are left with:
- The airline sent me a ticket.
This is also a correct sentence form to use with the pronoun “me” (source).
Which Is Correct: “and I” or “and Me”?
“And I” is correct when the subjective pronoun “I” is the subject of a statement. “And me” is correct when the objective pronoun “me” is the object of a statement (source).
For instance, which sentence is correct?
- Fran and me go to the bank
- Fran and I go to the bank.
Sometimes, compound subjects and compound objects can make it harder to tell the difference between a subject or object. The easiest way to figure out which one to use in this case is to ignore Fran as an entity in the sentence, reducing it to either “I” or “me.”
Remove Fran, and what remains is “Me go to the bank” or “I go to the bank.” “Me go to the bank” is clearly grammatically incorrect, while “I go to the bank” sounds much better. Thus, “Fran and I go to the bank” is the correct version to use.
Is It Grammatically Correct to Say “and I”?
It is grammatically correct to say “and I” when using the subject form in a statement. “I” represents the subject of a sentence or phrase and indicates the person who performs an action.
In our following example, let’s use the subject pronouns “Stacy” and “I.”
- Stacy and I are going to the movies.
We can say “Stacy and I” because they both are performing the action indicated by the verb “going.” We would not say “Stacy and me” in the statement unless they came after the verb either as direct or indirect objects.
Is It Grammatically Correct to Say “and Me”?
It is grammatically correct to say “and me” when using the object form in a statement. “Me” represents the object of a sentence or phrase and indicates the person receiving the action.
We can use “Fran” and “me” as object pronouns in a statement after a transitive verb.
- They didn’t invite Fran and me to the movies.
We can also use “Fran and me” after a preposition:
Will you watch a movie with Fran and me?
“Me” is the direct or indirect object in a statement or the object of the preposition.
You can determine if you should use “me” in a statement if it answers the questions “to whom?” or “for whom?”
- Jennifer bought a Christmas card for Sarah and me.
Who did Jennifer buy a card for? Sarah and me.
- Dan warned Eric and me about the danger.
Who did Dan warn about the danger? Eric and me.
What Does “and I” Mean?
Because “I” is a subject pronoun, we use it in a sentence to indicate the subject of a sentence — i.e., the person doing or being something. A conjunction is a function word that joins elements in a sentence (source).
“And I” is the second part of a compound subject, containing a conjunction and a pronoun (source).
- I went to the game with Bruce.
- Bruce and I went to the game.
In both examples, “I” is the subject and refers to the person acting or going somewhere.
How Do You Use “and I”?
You should use “and I” at the start of a sentence or clause as the last part of a compound subject.
For example, let’s take the use of “she and I”:
- She and I will ride our bikes to town for dinner.
- After we eat dinner, she and I will ride our bikes back home.
Who will ride their bikes to town for dinner? The answer is she and I.
In contrast, we can use “me and her” or, preferably, “her and me” at the end of the sentence.
- The conversation was private between her and me.
When Can You Use “and I”?
We can use “and I” as the subject when the person speaking does the action with someone else.
- Paul and I played catch in the backyard.
Another instance where “and I” is appropriate is when we have a linking verb. A linking verb is similar to the “equals” sign we use in math.
We should be able to invert the statement and still make sense if both sides of the linking verb are equal. For instance, “Tommy and I were the losers” has the same meaning as “The losers were Tommy and I.”
In What Context Can You Use “and I”?
You can use “and I” in numerous scenarios referring to yourself and someone else as a compound subject.
- Jimmy and I soaked in the sun while lying on the beach.
First-person pronouns allow us to speak about ourselves without using our names.
- George and I split a pizza for lunch.
Referring to yourself in the third person — using your own name — would seem odd in a normal conversation.
If your name is Brett, you wouldn’t say, “Matt and Brett played hockey on Saturday.” You would say, “Matt and I played hockey on Saturday.”
Using “and I” in a Full Sentence
The speaker will need to identify if the pronoun is in subject or object form to use “and I” correctly in a complete sentence. If the pronoun is the object, we should use “and me.”
- Samantha and I played in a band together.
- Brittany and I went grocery shopping at the local market.
- Brad met Wyatt and me at the tennis tournament.
- Rick and I went out for lunch.
We can use “and I” in a full sentence when “I” is the subject to denote the individual who acts.
When Not to Use “and I”
Don not use “and I” for a compound object. An easy way to know when not to use “and I” is to remember that if they are correct separately, they are correct together.
For example, let’s consider the sentence “The cake was for her and me.”
- The cake was for her.
- The cake was for me.
Both examples are correct separately, so we can use them correctly together using the conjunction “and.” In contrast, If we said, “The cake was for I,” it would not make sense.
Now let’s consider the sentence “She and I went to the movies.”
- She went to the movies.
- I went to the movies.
In this case, both are correct separately, so they will be correct together.
However, a common misuse emerges when you have a series of names with a pronoun at the end.
For instance, you should not use “and I” in a statement such as “This was done by Sam, Fran, and I” because you wouldn’t say “This was done by I.”
Similarly, you would not say, “Sam, Fran, and me went out to eat.” In this instance, you can remove the names to see the error in the statement.
- Me went out to eat.
Instead, it should be “Sam, Fran, and I went out to eat.”
Regardless, it’s common for English native speakers to use “I” in the object position and “me” in the subject position by mistake.
- Me and Joe walked to the store for groceries.
- The principal called Mitch and I into his office.
While you might get away with this in conversational English, it’s much harder to do so in formal writing.
What Can You Use Instead of “and I”?
You can use “and me” instead of “and I” in a sentence as long as “me” is part of a compound object of a verb or of a preposition.
- The waitress gave menus to Joe and me.
- Rebecca went to the play with my dad and me.
You can also avoid the confusion altogether by phrasing your sentence differently.
- The three of us played basketball at the park.
- She wants us both to drive together.
Subjective vs. Objective Pronoun Case
The subjective and objective pronoun cases are two of three pronouns cases, the last one being the possessive case. As you will know by now, personal pronouns change depending on whether they are part of the subject or an object of the sentence (source).
| Subjective Case Pronouns | Objective Case Pronouns |
|---|---|
| I | me |
| you | you |
| he, she, it | him, her, it |
| we | us |
| they | them |
| who | whom |
Objective Case: A pronoun in the objective case exists and functions as an object of a verb or preposition in a sentence.
- Hand him the keys.
Subjective Case: A pronoun in the subjective case exists and functions as the subject in a sentence.
- She has the keys.
For more on the correct use of the subjective and the objective case, check out the articles “‘Dad and Me’ or ‘Dad and I”: Which is Correct?” and “Is It Correct to Say, ‘That Is Him’?”
Final Thoughts
Both “and I” and “and me” are correct to say in a sentence. However, it’s essential to know the difference between a subject and an object in a sentence to use “and me” and “and I” correctly.
The subject is the one who does the action in a statement, and the object is the person or thing receiving that action. So, when we speak using the subject form, “and I” is correct and when we speak using the object form, “and me” is correct.