You and I vs You and Me

What is the Rule?

This is going to be a short one today. Once again, I had a question for myself and went Googling for the answer. I am putting it on my blog, not only to help you, but it’s also to help myself. I now have it saved somewhere that I can find it. My question was the one I had in the title because when I was in school, here in South Africa, we were told that you always say I and not me. For example, ‘You and I are going to the doctor.’ Or ‘It was quite the journey for you and I.’ They told us that the donkey comes last.

But then, I listened to people in the UK and they were using me instead of I and it started confusing me because a lot of our language rules come from them. Hence the fact that I decided to look it up so that I could know and further my knowledge. I hope it helps you too.

Whether you use I or me depends on whether the phrase is the subject of the sentence or the object of the sentence. I is a subject pronoun, and the subject is the person or thing doing the action as in “I went to the store.” Me is an object pronoun, and the object is the person or thing the action happens to as in “Alex liked me.” Use you and I when it is the subject of the sentence; use you and me when it is the object of the sentence. Here are some example sentences with you and I as the subject, doing the action:

You and I are going to be late.
You and I walked along the road.
You and I watched the dancers on stage.
You and I liked them.

In the sentences above, you and I are the people doing the actions. Here are some example sentences with you and me as the object, receiving the action:

Harold watched you and me.
They sent you and me a package.
The sun was shining on you and me.
The kids gave the books to you and me.

The rules above are what you should use in formal writing, but they are often broken in speech. Some people think you and I is more formal or educated sounding and you and me is more conversational or casual, so it’s not unusual to hear someone say “He gave it to you and I” if they are trying to sound very formal, or “You and me should go to the store” if they are speaking very casually.

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I got this info on Learner’s Dictionary and it was the answer to someone else’s question (I was not alone in my confusion).

There were other articles but most of them made it difficult to understand. The lady that answered this question for a student made it easy to understand.

Do you also struggle with this? If not, what do you struggle with?

That’s it from me for now…

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