Person and me or me and person?
- Thread starter Drachma10
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I was taught that you should put 'others' before 'self' (er, I'm talking grammatically here, even if it IS also good advice for other contexts!), and therefore you'd use 'person and me'.
However, this doesn't seem to be a universal grammatical rule. I've tried to find references in my (many) grammar and style books, and no luck so far. Not saying it's not in them; it might be just that I've never managed to find anything.
So I think the answer is you can go with whichever sounds right to you for the character who's saying it. After all, even if the 'rule' is that it should be 'person and me', there are plenty of people IRL who say 'me and person'. Characters can do likewise.
However, this doesn't seem to be a universal grammatical rule. I've tried to find references in my (many) grammar and style books, and no luck so far. Not saying it's not in them; it might be just that I've never managed to find anything.
So I think the answer is you can go with whichever sounds right to you for the character who's saying it. After all, even if the 'rule' is that it should be 'person and me', there are plenty of people IRL who say 'me and person'. Characters can do likewise.
If I those phrases in dialogue, I usually make younger people (kids, teens) and less educated people say me and person, but for everyone else it's person and me. I avoid using either term unless in dialogue. I say, I went to the store with person rather than person and me went to the store.
Either is grammatically correct.
I'd put the more important name of the two (probably me, since s/he is the narrator) last, to lend it the greatest gravity.
But if, for instance, that teacher standing over the two of them grabs Person by the hair and hauls him into the corner, Person's name would be more important and would go last.
Maryn, suspecting that teacher could expect reprisal
I'd put the more important name of the two (probably me, since s/he is the narrator) last, to lend it the greatest gravity.
But if, for instance, that teacher standing over the two of them grabs Person by the hair and hauls him into the corner, Person's name would be more important and would go last.
Maryn, suspecting that teacher could expect reprisal
Again, this isn't a grammar question. Miss Manners says in signing Christmas cards or the like, the signer puts his/her name last: Jane Jones signs cards Jack and Jane. John Jones signs cards Jane and Jack. In other cases, precedence is unspecified.
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Grammar by bribe in the 1940s
Chase: Can me 'n' Don have money to go to the movies?
Grandma: If Don is mean, he may not go, and you may not go alone.
Chase: Huh?
Grandma: Think about it.
Chase: Um, can Don and I go to the movies?
Grandma: Yes, you can, if you boys can find the money.
Chase: May Don and I have a dollar to go to the movies?
Grandma: Yes.
The objective case and more manners netted more silver dollars on other Saturdays.
Chase: Can me 'n' Don have money to go to the movies?
Grandma: If Don is mean, he may not go, and you may not go alone.
Chase: Huh?
Grandma: Think about it.
Chase: Um, can Don and I go to the movies?
Grandma: Yes, you can, if you boys can find the money.
Chase: May Don and I have a dollar to go to the movies?
Grandma: Yes.
The objective case and more manners netted more silver dollars on other Saturdays.
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After much coaxing by a pretty photographer, it was a pose for a weekly by-line in a Montana newspaper. Still, I asked her to set it up on a tripod for a timed snap with nobody down range.
I second what Terie said. My understanding has always been that it's polite to say "person and me," putting yourself last. I too am unsure why that has always been my understanding. Perhaps it goes along the same lines as etiquette in action, serving yourself last at the table, dealing to yourself last in a card game, etc.