Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In this lesson you'll learn the difference
between two confusing pronouns, and they are: "I" and "me". Okay? Now, unfortunately, mistakes are being made
everywhere with these two simple pronouns Okay? Whether you're reading on the internet, or
whether you're watching a show, or anything else, you'll see people making lots of mistakes
here, so it's very important that you watch this lesson so that you know what's right
and you do you what's right, especially if you're taking an exam, like the IELTS, or
the TOEFL, or the TOEIC, or anything else; or if you're applying for a job, because this
kind of mistake is a very basic mistake, and you don't want to make it ever. Okay. So, I'm going to show you exactly how to know
when to use "I" and when to use "me". All right? So, let's have a look. Now, as I said, we are focusing on "I" and
"me" here; we... I do have another lesson in which I talk about
all of the pronouns because sometimes all of them are mixed up, and I'll give you a
link to that in the lesson description so you can watch that later if you want to get
an overview of all of the pronouns, but let's start with this important one because very
often we are talking about ourselves, and for that we need to say: "I" or "me". All right? Here we go. So, first of all, both "I" and "me" are pronouns. Okay? Now, the pronoun basically takes the place
of a noun. All right? That's a grammatical explanation; don't worry
about it too much. The most important thing that you have to
remember here is that "I" is used as the subject of a sentence, and it does the action in a
sentence. All right? And "me" is an object; it receives the action
of the sentence. All right? To understand exactly how that works, let's
look at some examples. So, here we said: "I called Steve." And "I" is the subject. Right? "I called", so I am doing the action. Whereas here: "Steve called me." Now Steve is doing the action, so "Steve"
is the subject, and "me", here, is the object. Right? Yes, I heard you say that. Yes. It's correct. Okay? Steve called me, so I received the action,
I received the call. Okay? Here I made the call, so I did the action;
there I received it. Got it? It's always like that. Okay? "I" is always going to be the one that does
the action; "me" is the one that receives the action. All right, let's look at some more examples. "I talked to Mary." Okay? Again, "I" is the subject, and so we used
it here. And here: "Mary talked to me." All right? So, here, we have "me", again, as the object
which received the action. Who is the subject here? "Mary". All right? "Mary" was the subject here; "Steve" was the
subject here, but here we're focusing on: What's the object? "me". Now, another clue to know that you need to
use "me" and not "I" is because we see here a preposition, right? "to". So, whenever you see a preposition, after
that what needs to follow is a object pronoun; not the subject pronoun. So: "to me", "for me", "before me", "after
me", "with me", okay? All that kind of thing. Or even here: "Steve called me.", "Steve texted
me.", "Steve asked me.", "Steve answered me." Okay? But, again: "me", "me", "me". All right? When it's... And you'll see that it's usually at the end
of the sentence, whereas the subject is at the beginning of the sentence. Okay. So, that's the basic stuff. This is when we have one subject or one object,
so that's the basics. Now, where do people make most of the mistakes? When... Somehow when we have multiple subjects or
multiple objects. So even though they know this rule, most of
the time most people, somehow when there are multiple subjects or objects, for some reason
people get a little bit confused. So, that's okay. Let's clarify all your confusion right now. So, let's look at this example: "Sarah and
I are friends." Okay? So, here we had more than one subject; we
had a compound subject. But we still have to say: "I" because it's
a subject. Okay? "Sarah and I". All right? Not: "Sarah and me"; "Sarah and I". Because... And also, another way you can tell: Take out
"Sarah", and then you say: "I am friends". Right? We don't say: "me am friends" or something
like that. So, you have to use "I" here, but let's look
at the other side of the equation. "The gift is from Sarah and me." All right? And, again, you saw here that there's a preposition,
so that gave you a clue. Right? But: "Sarah and me", not "Sarah and I". Also, what you can do here: Take out "Sarah". "The gift is from I", no, we don't say that. "The gift is from me". "from me", "to me", "for me", all that. Okay? So: "The gift is from Sarah and me." All right? Got it? Good. Next: "Bob and I had lunch." Okay? Again, subject: "Bob and I". "I had lunch". Not: "me had lunch"; "I had lunch". Or here: "They promoted Bob and me." Okay? Again, receiving the action. Okay? "They" is the subject here, and this is the
object. There are multiple objects, but that's okay. Even if it's a multiple object, it still needs
to be "me" if you're deciding between "I" and "me". Last one here: "You and I are in this photo." Okay? "You and I". All right? Now, also pay attention to the order, here. I didn't say: "I and you", I didn't say: "I
and Bob", I didn't say: "I and Sarah". I said: "Sarah and I", "Bob and I", "You and
I". So, what's important is the "I" always comes
last, whether you have... Even if you had five people's names. Right? Or three people's names: "Bob, Sarah, and
I", that "I" comes last because it's more polite like that. Okay. So: "You and I are in this photo", and here
it's the subject so we used "I". But in this sentence: "It's you and me in
this old photo." It is who? "you and me". Now, very often also after the verb "is" we
use the object pronoun: "me". Okay? "It's me". Not: "It's I"; "It's me". "It's you and me in this old photo." Did you get that? We're going to find out in just a second when
we do some examples. Okay? Some practice. That's the best way to learn anything - lots
of practice. We're going to do that. All right, so now let's start putting these
words into real sentences. Okay? So, your choices are "I", which is for a subject
or "me" if it's an object. Okay? Here we go. "My friends and _____ planned the party." Should it be "I" or "me"? "My friends and I". Okay? Because it's the subject of the sentence - you
got it. Next:
"This shirt doesn't fit _____." "I" or "me"? "This shirt doesn't fit me." Okay? Again, receiving the action. All right? Good. "Jack and _____ met the client today." "I" or "me"? Think about it. Is it a subject? Is it an object? What is it? Is it doing the action? Is it receiving the action? It's the subject, and therefore we need to
say: "I". Okay? "Jack and I met the client." Who's receiving the action in this sentence? Who's the object? It's the client. Right? "met the client". All right. Number four:
"Robert, Jane, and _____ work together." Is it "I" or "me"? Think about it. Now we have several names in a row, but are
they part of the subject or are they part of the object? They are part of the subject, so therefore
we have to say: "Robert, Jane, and I work together." You got it. Good. No more of these basic mistakes for you - no
way. All right. Number five:
"She called _____ yesterday." "I" or "me"? Is it a subject? Is it an object? Think. "She called me". Okay? So: "She" was the subject, "called" is the
verb. Right? And called who? "me", so I received the action, so the word
you have to use is "me", the object. Good. "Is this for _____?" What? Blank. Is it "I" or "me"? "Is this for me?" Okay? Again, you have a clue because you have the
preposition "for"; "for me", "from me", "after me", "with me". Right? I know you might get tired of hearing it,
but it's when you hear it again and again that eventually it becomes a voice in your
mind; not just my video, but in your mind so that whenever you're going to speak or
you're going to write, those word... This word "me" will come to you automatically,
which is what you want; the way it does in your own language. Okay? It will flow more easily, and you can say
it. Say it out loud as much as you can. Say these sentences out loud to yourself. Go back, watch the video again, and read the
sentences. Read the correct sentences. The more you hear it, the more easily you
will remember it and say the right things, or write the correct ones. Next, number seven:
"Bob and _____ are leaving early." "I" or "me"? Think about it. Is it a subject? Is it an object? It's a subject, good, so we need to say: "I". Okay? "Bob and I are leaving early." Good. Last... The last one here:
"They thanked _____ many times." Okay? "I" or "me"? Is it a subject? Is it an object? Okay? It is an object, so we need to say: "me". "They" is the subject here. Okay? "me" is the object. "They thanked me many times." All right. I think you've got this. All right? It's so important. But here's a little something that I think
will help you to remember. Okay? I was going to tell you earlier, but I'm going
to tell you now. This is just a sentence you could say to yourself
to help you remember whether to use "I" or "me". So, the sentence is: "I'll call you or you
call me." All right? You see, here, it's the subject; here it's
the object. "I'll call you or you call me." All right. Sounds good. Thanks for watching all the way to the end
because this is such an important subject. You really don't want to make this kind of
mistake ever in anything official. It's different, even when you're speaking,
speak correctly. Okay? Don't try to use slang, even if you hear people
saying that. Don't do that. This is sort of very fundamentally, important,
correct English. All right? So, master it. And don't forget to subscribe so you can keep
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by the way, so remember that. Okay? Thanks very much for watching. Don't forget to go to www.engvid.com to do
a quiz on this so you can really master it. All right? We always have quizzes, we have... almost
always, and we have more than a thousand lessons, so go there and continue to improve your English. Thanks very much for watching. Bye for now.
