Thanks to Kenyan English
we now accept constructions like “Me I am going….” The fact that this kind of a
construction may go unnoticed doesn’t mean that it is correct. However much an
error is repeated, it can never become right unlike that lie which becomes
truth once repeated so often. What’s even more nettling is seeing this mistake
appear on documents created using word processor programs, grammar checkers are
there to help to get rid of these mistakes but some people just ignore! Smart
devices dumb users, right? (Topic for another page) anyhow, let us try and
differentiate these personal pronouns.
Me
Only use me when you are
the object in the sentence. It is used along with other objective pronouns like
her, us, him etc.
E.g. the old man called
john, the old man called him
Thus is such a case if we
replace the personal pronoun him with first person singular it will be; the old
man called me!
Easy, right?
Me is also used to refer to
the person being referred to by a preposition. For example:
·
This article has been
written by me.
·
Rose was accompanied by Beth
and myself me.
 |
| Love yourself, not you! |
Myself
Now that I mentioned in an instance where it is
misused, why don’t we just have a look at how it is used before we go to I? Myself
is a reflexive pronoun meaning it is used as an object that refers to the
speaker who is also the subject, thus we can say it is the reflexive form of I.
·
E.g. I love me
myself
·
I like being me
myself
However we have developed this bad habit of using me
instead of myself especially on social media, trust me I might be heading for an
“un-follow expedition’’ for anyone using that after I have shared it.(Bah,
Kabutha is just a single follower anyway, well to me you’re committing crimes
against grammar J). Back to the track, use
of myself is not limited to I, it is also used for referring to
oneself after being mentioned in the same sentence.
·
E.g. you don’t expect me
to tell you about myself.
Finally it is used to put emphasis that for instance
someone did something without assistance.
·
E.g. I myself witnessed all the drama
·
I did all the work by
myself. By+oneself=alone
The former may sound incorrect but it is correct, I
bet the clarification in the latter is clear. By oneself I mean himself,
herself and myself. I have deliberately avoided commenting about a common
construction like the director or myself will answer all your questions. Does
anyone know how correct that is? Shed some light in the comment box below
I
Perhaps I ought to have started with this,
nevertheless let’s look at it. I is
more or less the opposite of me. Only
use I when you are the subject in the
sentence just like you do with he and she. When you use I together with another noun or pronoun to form the subject, I
always comes second.
·
E.g. I am talking to you
·
Dennis and me I are talking to you.
Remember, for subject use I, for object stick to me and
myself for reflexive and emphasis.
They are not interchangeable at all!
Have a nice week ahead and take care of yourself J
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