Some of the first
words English students learn are “I”
and “ME”. But even native English
speakers do not always know which
one to use in a sentence.
Fernanda from Brazil gets right to
the heart of the problem. Here is
her question.
...
learn are: que ... que aprenden
son; even native: incluso los
nativos; which one to use:
cuál utilizar; gets right to the
heart of the problem: va
directamente a la raíz del problema;
Sometimes I don’t
know when to use “I” or “ME”. For
example, I want to tell someone that
I made some food with a friend. How
can I say it: “MONICA
AND I
made the food?” or “MONICA
AND ME
made the food”?
when to use: cuándo utilizar;
I made some food with a friend:
hice/cociné alguna comida con una
amiga; how can I say it?:
¿cómo puedo decirlo?;
Hello Fernanda!
I can tell
that you know to use the word “I”
when you are the only subject of
the sentence. You correctly wrote “I
want…” for example. In this case,
“I” is the subject and “want” is the
verb.
the only
subject of the sentence: el único sujeto de la
oración; you correctly wrote:
escribiste correctamente;
But you are asking about a situation
involving two people: you
and your friend.
a situation involving: una
situación que involucra/incluye a;
Let’s review what you already know
to find the answer.
let's review: revisemos,
repasemos; what you already know:
lo que ya sabes; to find the
answer: a fin de encontrar la
respuesta;
“I” is a subject
pronoun. It refers to the person
performing the action
of a verb. Use “I” for the
subject of the sentence.
subject pronoun: pronombre
sujeto; it refers to: se
refiere a; performing the action
of a verb: que ejecuta la acción
de un verbo;
“ME” is an object
pronoun. It refers to the person
receiving the action
of a verb. Use “me” for the
object of the sentence.
object pronoun: pronombre
objeto/objetivo; it refers to:
se refiere a; receiving the
action of a verb: que recibe la
acción de un verbo;
In your sentence about cooking, are
you and your friend the subject or
the object of the verb “made”? In
other words, are the ones making the
food – or is the food "making you"?
the object of the verb "made"?:
¿el objeto del verbo "hicimos"?;
in other words: es decir; are
the ones making the food?: ¿son
ustedes las que hacen la comida?;
or is the food "making you"?: ¿o
es la comida que "las hace a
ustedes"?;
You are making the
food, of course. So, the answer to
your question is: “MONICA
AND I
made the food.” In this sentence,
the whole subject is “Monica and I”.
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
I, you, he, she, it, we, they
OBJECT PRONOUNS
me, you, him, her, it, us, them
Let’s look at a few
more sentences with “I” as part of
the
subject:
let's look at a few more
sentences: observemos algunas
oraciones más; with "I" as part
of the subject: con "yo" como
parte del sujeto;
In September,
MONICA AND I
are starting classes.
En septiembre MÓNICA Y YO
comenzaremos las clases.
When can
MONICA AND I
visit the new museum?
¿Cuándo
podemos MÓNICA Y YO visitar el nuevo
museo?
And sentences with “ME” as part of
the
object:
with "ME" as part of the object:
con "A MÍ" como parte del objeto;
What did you
bring back for
MONICA AND ME?
¿Qué nos trajiste a MÓNICA Y A
MÍ?
David is giving
MONICA AND ME
a ride to the airport.
David nos está llevando a MÓNICA
Y A MÍ al aeropuerto.
HOW TO DECIDE
If you’re still not sure whether to
choose “ME” or “I”, try keeping just
the pronoun. Listen:
if you're still not sure: si
aún no estás seguro/a; try
keeping just the pronoun: prueba
manteniendo el pronombre;
What did you bring back
for MONICA AND I?
¿Qué nos trajiste
a MÓNICA Y YO?
You would not ask, “What did you
bring back
for I?”
The correct way to form the question
is: “What did you bring back
for me?”
Then you can just add the other
person back to the sentence: “What
did you bring back
for Monica and me?”
you would not ask: no puedes
preguntar; what did you bring
back
for I?:
¿Qué trajiste
para YO?;
the correct way to form: la
manera correcta de formar; then
you can just add the other person:
luego puedes agregar a la segunda
persona (tu amiga) en la oración.
I’m Alice Bryant. |