Quotation of the Day

Entries in Pronouns (1)

Me, myself, and aye-carumba, revisted

Almost a year ago, I posted “Me, myself, and aye-carumba,” in which I lamented the fact that so many people use the reflexive personal pronoun myself when they can’t decide whether they should use me or I. Thus, you hear them saying things like “Helouise went shopping with Marva and myself.”

The trick here is to get rid of the second person and ask “If it were just me and Helouise, how would I say it?” Of course, you’d say “Helouise went shopping with me.” Adding Marva doesn’t change which pronoun you use.

Anders recently added a comment to that post, pointing out another situation that can appear a bit thorny, and in which some people, not knowing what to do, fall back on myself. Anders’ example was “He’s in the same business as ___.” So, what is it: me, myself, or I?

The key here is to note that the sentence leaves out the verb am: “He’s in the same business as I am.” When it comes to sentences that make comparisons like this, look for the missing words; they’ll help you decide which pronoun to use. (And you should consider putting the omitted words back in, just to keep things clear.)

Here’s another: “Maya likes klezmer music more than ___.” Which is it?

The answer is, it depends. It depends on what exactly the sentence means. Does Maya like klezmer music more than I like klezmer music, or or does she like it more than she likes me? In cases like this, it might be better to revise the sentence—add the omitted words, or re-organize it—to eliminate the ambiguity.

Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 06:55AM by Registered CommenterRoy Jacobsen in , , | CommentsPost a Comment