Allow me to vent. I have been a public speaker for a long time. Maybe that’s made me oversensitive? I am driven crazy by people who say “I’ when “me” is the correct word and vice versa.
It’s not necessary to read the next paragraph. It explains the rules, but you can do this without really knowing the rules!
From wiki.answers.com: “I” is normally the subject pronoun and “me” is the object pronoun. (Nominative and indicative, if you really want to know.) That is, “I” is used when you are doing the action in the sentence, and “me” when you are receiving it.
This problem always appears in sentences with more than one noun and/or pronoun:
- They want you or me.
- Helaine and I need a vacation.
The easiest method to see which version is correct is to temporarily throw away the second noun/pronoun!
- They want me.
- They want I.
- I need a vacation.
- Me need a vacation.
It works every time and you’ll allow me to live a longer, happier, more stress free life.
Don’t get me started on “orientated!”