I vs Me

[wordcross]

So I'm in this quasi-linguistics/educational language theory class and my term project is to present a 5-minute grammar lesson to the class. I chose to explain the proper usage of "I" and "Me" in such cases as "He and I went to the park" or "The apples are for him and me."

I know how they're supposed to be used, and i'm sure i can present the general case well enough, but what i want to know is if there are any special-cases i should look out for or, if you like, just general advice on how to go about presenting this.
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Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[Samadhi]

I'm sure there are "catches" so to speak. There was a thread in OT in which Pablo posted some interesting grammar questions. He might know of some that specifically relate to this.
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[Amb]

Me before E except after C.
Me liked The Terminator Meme movie.

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I'm no big expert, but here goes.

The word "I" is used for the subject of a sentence.

I ran down the street.

The word "me" is used for the object of a sentence.

Give the pizza to me.

Some things you might want to discuss in your talk:

Adding additional persons to the subject or object doesn't change what word you use.

Fred and I ran down the street.

Give the pizza to Fred and me.

(It seems to be more "proper" to list "I" or "me" last, but I don't really know if this is a rule of grammar.)

One trap to avoid is when you should use "I" for a subject that "looks" like an object. The classic example:

"Who is there?" "It is I."

Since the "I" follows the "is" you might think that it's an object, and be tempted to say "It is me." This is not correct. ("Such-and-such is so-and-so" is an odd kind of sentence, since it is really equating two subjects, and has no object at all. Such sentences can always reverse the two equated subjects without changing their forms, although you may have to change the verb. For example, "It is I" can be reversed to "I am it.")

As a side issue, watch out for the word "myself." People seem to use this word when they don't know whether to say "I" or "me." They say things like "Give the report to Fred or myself" when they should just say "Give the report to Fred or me." The word "myself" should only be used when it is impossible to use "I" or "me", as in "I will fix the car myself."
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Reality is a crutch for people who can't face up to science fiction

[Talzor]

A fun example my old linguistics professor used to show is: "When Anton meet Bob he bought his car". According to normal discourse theory (at least for my language) "he" should refer to Bob, yet most people will intuitively understand it to refer to Anton.

[wordcross]

Not exactly an I vs. me example, but I'm pretty sure that in English "When Anton met Bob he bought his car," has the "he" referring to Anton. Anton is the subject and therefore the one doing any further actions (unless otherwise specified).
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Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[casinopete]

Y'know, you'd probably get more out of homework assignments by doing them yourself instead of bringing them to the GL to do your work for you.

[wordcross]

that's good advice to anyone who actually expects the GL to do their homework assignments. Glad I'm not one of them.
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Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[Samadhi]

Why are my ears burning?
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[extropalopakettle]

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I believe that "You are I" would be correct, although it sounds a little funny to our ears. In informal conversation, it might seem more "natural" to say "You are me" just as we say "It's me" and things like that.
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Reality is a crutch for people who can't face up to science fiction

[Samadhi]

I grok that.
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[Quailman]

"I" is the first person singular, so it of course should come first. "I am you," not "You are I." It clearly sounds much better that way.

[extropalopakettle]

But if Jack asks a question of the form "Why do people think I'm <whatever>?" then the answer is naturally of the form "People think you're <whatever> because <reason>".

So when Jack asks "Why do people think I'm you?", should Tyler respond "People think you're I because ...".

Also, regarding

[Quailman]

"To be" is a special case, in that instead of an object, the verb has a subject and {something pther than an object - a complement subject?}. So the correct form would be "I scare myself." But form the first-person present form of 'to be', you should of said "I am Iself."

[RE*]

"myself" is a reflexive pronoun (as are the other "-self" pronouns). The proper usage is as an object that refers to the subject.

when I see it used as an adjunct (i.e. describing the manner in which one will perform an action), I see it as a contraction of "by myself":

I'll do it by myself = I'll do it myself

Different connotations, same extension.


Also, what about more complex sentences?

Bob promised me he would fix it.
I promised myself I would fix it.
Bob believed I was who I said I was.
Bob believed me to be who I said I was.

[Dented Ford]

Myself, I believe me to be confused.
I believe I am confused, myself.
I believe myself to be confused.
Me, I am confused (so far as I can tell, myself).
?