Him And I Or Myself

Me, Myself, and I - Business concern Grammar Rules Explained

Originally published Apr 30, 2021, updated October 27, 2022

Me, Myself, and I - Business Grammar Rules Explained

Me, Myself, and I errors are one of the most common business organisation grammer errors we see in business writing training sessions.

What is the divergence betwixt me, myself, and I?

I recently found this illustrative error reading ane of my favorite blogs (unnamed now, since I don't desire to link the error to this otherwise wonderful blog):

Can you detect the fault?

My sister-in-law and brother surprised Eric and I with some personalized cards forth with a rubber, address stamp this calendar week from Nameless Print. The text on the cards is coral — i of my favorite colors and besides the color of the bridesmaid dresses along with the safety postage stamp ink. I was semi-dreading writing out all the thank yous cards from the nuptials (my handwriting leaves a lot to be desired), but after receiving these, I recall I may enjoy information technology a little.

The error is hither:

My sister-in-law and brother surprised Eric and I with some personalized cards along with a rubber, address stamp this week from Nameless Print. The text on the cards is coral — one of my favorite colors and also the colour of the bridesmaid dresses along with the rubber stamp ink. I was semi-dreading writing out all the give thanks you cards from the wedding (my handwriting leaves a lot to be desired), merely later on receiving these, I think I may enjoy information technology a petty.

It should read:

My sister-in-law and brother surprised me and Eric with ...

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Grammar rules

According to The Gregg Reference Manual and AP Way Guide:

Use I, we, y'all, he, she, information technology, they (nominative/subject field form personal pronoun):

When the pronoun is the subject of a verb.

I wrote to Eileen McIntyre.

Use me, us, yous, him, her, it, them (objective grade personal pronoun):

When the pronoun is the straight or indirect object of a verb.

Larry gave Maris and us tickets for the opening.

My sister-in-police and brother surprised me and Eric with...

The reflexive personal pronoun myself gets tricky but simply remember that myself is always used equally the object of a sentence and/or as an intensive pronoun to add intensity to a sentence. Myself is never used as a subject pronoun.

All personal pronouns have a matching reflexive pronoun:

me — myself
y'all — yourself
yous — yourselves
her — herself
information technology — itself
he — himself
one — oneself
our — ourselves

they — themselves

An like shooting fish in a barrel rule to remember is that the reflexive pronoun myself is e'er used as the object of a sentence, never the subject.

I (subject) see (verb) myself (reflexive objective pronoun) eating a large chocolate cookie.

You'd never write "Myself ate a big chocolate cookie."

Employ myself to direct the action expressed by the verb back to the subject.

She found herself the simply one in favor of the move.

Employ myself every bit an intensive pronoun to highlight a substantive or pronoun already expressed.

I will contact her myself.

"I will contact her" has the aforementioned meaning, merely adding "myself" adds intensity.

Me, myself, and I grammar tip

Beneath are two tips that will assist yous avoid this mutual me/myself/I business grammer error.

Simply omit all words between the field of study/verb and pronoun:
My sister-in-law and brother surprised Eric and I.
My sister-in-law surprised I ... sounds odd to the ear. You'll know immediately that My sister-in-law surprised me ... is right. Omit the injected words for a quick bank check.
If you were, for some odd reason, rarely immune to include myself. So, if you are confused, merely don't utilize myself unless you are sure the usage is correct.
This way, yous will never write the common error:
Please ship the report to myself and Karen. You lot volition know that the correct sentence is:
Please send the report to me and Karen.

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Post by Mary Cullen
Originally published April 30, 2021, updated October 27, 2022

Mary founded Instructional Solutions in 1998, and is an internationally recognized business writing trainer and executive writing motorbus with 2 decades of experience helping thousands of individuals and businesses master the strategic skill of business writing. She excels at designing customized business writing training programs to maximize productivity, advance business objectives, and convey complex information. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Rhode Island, an K.A. in English Literature from Boston College, and a C.A.G.S. in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of New Hampshire.