Pronouns

First things first: What is a pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun:

me

I

she

he

they

you

us

them

... and so on.

So then the trick that we need to learn is when to use which pronoun.

If you're like me, you probably had a teacher at one point who drilled it into your head to use 'I' and not 'me'.

For example: "Can Sarah and I go to get a drink?" not "Can me and Sarah go to get a drink?"  
(This same teacher would have probably also given you a hard time about the whole "may I" versus "can I" - "I don't know... can you?"- but that's a whole different story.)

But what about when the pronoun comes at the end of the sentence?

• That teacher was mean to Sarah and I.
• That teacher was mean to Sarah and me.

That mean old teacher would probably have you thinking it's got to be the one with 'I'... but that would be wrong.

Here's my favorite technique for figuring it out - I call it "Hide-and-Seek".

Hide the other pronoun.

• That teacher was mean to Sarah and I.
• That teacher was mean to Sarah and me.

Seek the sentence that sounds correct.

Would you ever say, "That teacher was mean to I"?  Gee, I hope not.  So the correct way to say it is, "That teacher was mean to Sarah and me."  It's that easy!  And it works with all sorts of pronouns.  Let's try it again.

• Her and her boyfriend went to the store.
• She and her boyfriend went to the store.

Hide the other pronoun.

• Her and her boyfriend went to the store.
• She and her boyfriend went to the store.

Seek the sentence that sounds correct.

Her went to the store sounds terrible!  'She' is the correct pronoun to choose in this case.

Try it.  It will change your life (and hopefully improve your relationship with that mean old teacher).