Standard Mistake, Standard Correction

Not standard circumstance.

The problem with this error is that it’s two errors (putting yourself first and using “me” instead of “I”) and grade school teachers tend to correct both at once. Consequently, their students tend to use “I” even when they should use “me.”

So:

• Use “I” when it’s a subject
• Use “me” when it’s the object of a preposition
• Be humble—mention the other guy first.

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It’s we do things, not us do things. Just because you throw in some extra words doesn’t mean you can change that. Third panel.

Harrumpf. Get it right. Don’t be a Tareyton smoker.

Yes, the comic breaks a rule, but you know that rule: “I” is for the subject of a sentence, not “me.” This post is about another rule: Don’t put yourself first! But be sure to read the comment after the comic.

We have no grammatical rule that says not to put yourself first! All it is, is being polite to mention others first. Particularly in scientific writing the author mentions the main researcher, him- or herself, first, and adds associates (mere grad students maybe?) who participated, second.

So if you deserve most of the credit, go ahead and mention yourself first. But use “I,” (or “we”) not “me” (or “us”)!

I ran into a sentence that correctly puts “we” first:

These recent updates, suggesting that climate change and its impacts are emerging faster than scientists previously thought, are consistent with observations that we and other colleagues have made identifying a pattern in assessments of climate research of underestimation of certain key climate indicators, and therefore underestimation of the threat of climate disruption.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/scientists-have-been-underestimating-the-pace-of-climate-change/

This post first appeared on The Writing Rag.

This is a fairly standard curmudgeonly (okay, grammarian’s) complaint. Is the guy in the last panel right or wrong?

Well, he’s wrong. Somehow that word (it’s called an appositive) between the subject and the verb makes us want to use “us” instead of “we.” You wouldn’t say “us are allowed to be stupid,” would you? Nah, that would be stupid!

Don’t smoke Tareytons, either.

This post first appeared on The Writing Rag.

Middle panel:

Why is it “we” and not “us”? Isn’t this like the slogan “Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch”? (That should date you if you remember that one.)

Well, “[x] students are behaving” is a subordinate clause (It’s a noun clause acting as the direct object of “observe”) and clauses have subjects. The subject is “x students.”

Why two words for the subject? It’s called an appositive. Examples: Blacksmith Bob, Farmer Jones, Bill the salesman. You could remove either word from the phrase and you’d have essentially the same meaning.

“We” is for subjects, and “us” is for objects, so there you have it.

And get rid of those Tareytons.