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Mon 3 Feb, 2014 03:38 am
Hi all
My mother was berating my brother’s grammar because he wrote “Jule and I at the zoo” on the back of a load of photos. She says it should be “Jule and me”.
OK, so “Jule and I at the zoo” isn’t a full sentence as there is no verb, but there is a verb implied – ie “This is Jule and I at the zoo” – which is incorrect, even sounds wrong. “This is Jule and me at the zoo” is correct.
But yet if you say “Jule and me are going to ….. “ it’s wrong. Should be “Jule and I…”
But I think in both cases, “Jule and xx” is the subject of the sentence, which is where I get confused.
My rule of thumb is, pretend the other person isn’t involved, and write whatever you would say if it were only you: ie “I am going to… “ or “Me at the zoo”.
What I want to know is, why is "Jule and I at the zoo" incorrect?
@sparklyfirefly,
sparklyfirefly wrote:
What I want to know is, why is "Jule and I at the zoo" incorrect?
Jule and I is quite correct. You can't imply the verb.
@roger,
Thanks for replying Roger.
But you wouldn't say "I at the zoo". Though I have to say "Me at the zoo" doesn't sound the best English either.
So if I at the zoo is wrong, why is Jule and I at the zoo correct?
Confused!
@sparklyfirefly,
The question of conventional grammaticality is meaningless outside of a complete sentence, i.e. one containing a verb. The term "correctness" is sometimes applied to grammaticality by those who take grammar to be prescriptive. However "appropriateness" is a more contemporary term and that is defined by what is acceptable in particular social contexts. In that respect, I would argue that "me" is more acceptable than "I" in the given context.
I would write "me at the zoo" if it was a picture of, for example, me at the zoo. If the picture included a second person, I would either put their name first followed by 'and' like this: Julie and me at the zoo, or after, like this: Me and Julie at the zoo.
@contrex,
A picture of me
A picture of me at the zoo
A picture of me and Julie at the zoo
A picture of Julie and me at the zoo
I wouldn't write or say 'a picture of I'
I'd make the assumption and take the phrase to mean "this is Jule and me at the zoo." In that regard, one wouldn't say "this is Jule and I at the zoo."
@sparklyfirefly,
It would have to be something like "Jule and I are seen here at the zoo." and it would have to be explicit for 'I' to be correct.
@sparklyfirefly,
My rule of thumb is, pretend the other person isn’t involved, and write whatever you would say if it were only you: ie “I am going to… “ or “Me at the zoo”.
Jtt: That's not a good rule of thumb. It's well known but it's fallacious.
What I want to know is, why is "Jule and I at the zoo" incorrect?
Jtt: It isn't incorrect.
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