Words of Passion

Writing Tip

Objective Case

A common mistake is the following: “She came to visit my wife and I for a couple of weeks.” The pronouns after the verb—in this case "my (wife)" and "I"—serve as the object of the sentence and take the objective case. "I" is the subjective case, and therefore incorrect. The correct way is to say, “She came to visit my wife and me for a couple of weeks.”

The subjective case pronouns are: I, we, you, he/she/it, they.
The objective case pronouns are: me, us, you, him/her/it, them.

If you have trouble determining which pronoun to use, try breaking down the sentence. “She came to visit . . . (I/me). Which one sounds better? Would you say, “She came to visit I?” Or would you say, “She came to visit me?” When all else fails, consult a grammar book or a professional grammarian.

Nanette Littlestone