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Is "me and X" as the subject of a sentence valid British English grammar? It comes across as really uneducated.
by valleyer 13y ago
Is "me and X" as the subject of a sentence valid British English grammar? It comes across as really uneducated.
- robin2 13y agoIt's fairly common. If one says "X and I" one risks coming across as being a bit Brian Sewell.
- bencollier49 13y agoYep, this. My wife refuses to use it. It's a form of inverted snobbery and a symptom of the UK's class culture.
- stordoff 13y agoAFAIK, it's very common but still incorrect in British English.
- aidos 13y agoIt's normal, yes. Growing up in NZ we were taught that it's impolite and you should always say "X and I." I was surprised to learn that in the UK it's said the other way around.
- rjknight 13y agoIt's not really valid, but it's not uncommon either. It's something that would sound unremarkable in speech but looks quite bad when written down.
- gringofyx 13y agoI like to read what I write aloud as a sense check before submitting it - nothing stood out immediately. My wife often tells me my (written) English is terrible.
- robinson-wall 13y agoIt's perfectly valid. "X and I" is only valid if the sentence makes sense if you only used "I". This article makes one valid use of "me and X": > in an effort to score extra points with me and Carl. If you changed that to "Carl and I" then took out Carl it would be "to score extra points with I", which is disturbing and wrong.
- rjknight 13y agoAha, you appear to be correct. This might be a case of linguistic prejudice then - the mistake of saying "me" when "I" is appropriate is considered to be a sign of miseducation, whereas few people ever make the mistake of saying "I" when they mean "me", so it has not acquired any negative connotations. This prejudice applies even when the usage of "me" is correct!
- valleyer 13y agoNotice that I said "as the subject of a sentence". It certainly works in the single case you chose. How about these: "… and me and Carl were quietly trying to weigh up which team …" "Me and Carl had a winner and …" "During the excercise me and a colleague, Carl, made ourselves available …"
- ddeck 13y agoYes, those are incorrect. Perhaps it's just because I'm not located in the UK, but it really stands out for me. Those, the lack of periods and phrases such as: >and thinked the way most of the team already worked and thought
- gringofyx 13y agoHopefully, I've fixed the grammar. Yes, that sentence in the first paragraph stood out to me too, but I really didn't expect for the article to gain traction. I want to add that I can't suit everyone, there are things that annoy me about American English grammar that I can't change, and I wouldn't think about writing in the comments suggestions on how to fix it. Maybe that's just me.