The choice should be clear once you remove other people’s names from the sentence.

It can be difficult to know when to use I vs me in daily conversation. We’ve all been guilty of putting “me” first in a sentence like this: “Me and Shirley went to the park.” When you were a child, an adult probably corrected you. “Oh no, no, Shirley and I went to the park.” That’s right — but they may not have explained when you should use “me.”

The best way to tell when to use I vs me is by taking out the other person’s name. Going back to the example above, if we take out “Shirley,” we know that “I went to the park” is a grammatically correct sentence. We wouldn’t say “Me went to the park” (unless, perhaps, you’re Yoda).

Here’s another example:

“Margaret took a photo of Clarence and me.” Take out “Clarence and,” which leaves you with “Margaret took a photo of me.” This is correct, as you wouldn’t say “Margaret took a photo of I,” so you wouldn’t say “Margaret took a photo of Clarence and I.”

Now that you know when to use I vs me, spread the love! Share this video with your friends and colleagues who need a quick lesson. Want more grammar bites? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Video filmed by Dave Nelsen and edited by Rachel Thompson.