Dear Readers,
If we look back, my April 2013 post, entitled "Me, Myself and I," focused on the incorrect usage of direct object pronouns as subject pronouns. In this month's blog, I will focus on the incorrect usage of the subject pronoun as direct objects. A direct object receives the action from the verb.
Example: John loves Mary. (John is the subject and Mary is the object.)
Just to refresh the memory, here are the correct pronouns:
SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCE DIRECT OBJECT OF THE VERB
I me
You you
He, She him, her
We us
You (all) you
They them
Below you will see examples of how people are now using the subject pronoun for the direct object.
Example: Steve Harvey had guest Judge Alex Ferrer on his show. The Judge was talking about his background. "My parents came from Cuba and brought my brothers and I." *This is an educated man, a judge, speaking, and he used the wrong pronoun. Of course it should be "my brothers and me." I hope his judgments are better than his grammar.
Example: In an episode of the TV show "Parenthood," Crosby tells his brother, "Jabbar asked Jasmine and I when we were getting married." *This should be "Jabbar asked Jasmine and me..."
Jabbar is the subject but me is the object.
Example: On the TV show "Vegas," Mr. Savino (owner of the Savoy Casino in Las Vegas) tells an employee, "The Mormon banker actually invited my wife and I to the country club." *Again, it should be, "my wife and me" since they are the object of the verb invited.
Example: I heard this on the sit-com "Anger Management." Charlie, his ex-wife Jen and their daughter Sam are about to leave for Sam's softball game when Charlie says to Jen, "Can you give Sam and I a minute?" *Not only is he using the subject pronoun in the object position, this is actually an indirect object rather than a direct object, but the pronouns for both are the same. [In perfect English, one would say "give a minute to me and Sam."] I am now guessing that TV writers are not taking grammar in school. Such a shame.
This last example is my favorite because it shows how literate the author, Stephen King, is.
In his novel Under the Dome, an orphan, Alice, asks her caretaker Carolyn to bring her to the Town Hall meeting. She asks, "Caro? Will you take Aiden and I ... Aiden and me ... to the big meeting?"
*Thank you, Mr. King. Reading your work is a pleasure.
Well, dear Readers, I hope you gain some insight as well as pleasure from reading my blog.
