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'You and me'? or 'You and I'? - English lesson

There are difficult moments when teachers wonder whether they should, once again, repeat and explain 'basic' notions, or presume that they are known and understood, at the risk of building one or several lessons without  reviewing the necessary prerequisites...  Experience has shown me that it's

better to repeat fundamentals once again. 

It is seldom for nothing!  

1) PERSONAL SUBJECTIVE  PRONOUNS: 

I eat
YOU eat
HE/ SHE/ IT eats
WE eat
YOU eat
THEY eat. 

I/ YOU/ HE/ SHE/ IT/ WE/ YOU/ THEY are subjective personal pronouns  introducing the SUBJECT of the verbs following them.  

The subject is usually placed at the beginning of the sentence.  

The subject is the answer to the question "who did that?" after the verb. 

2) OBJECTIVE  PERSONAL  PRONOUNS: 

Now, let's look at objective complements. 

- you know ME/ I know YOU/ you know HIM/ you know HER/ you know IT/

you know US/ we know YOU/ you know THEM. 

ME/ YOU/ HIM/ HER/ US/ YOU/ THEM are objective pronouns

introducing the DOCs (direct objet complements) of the verbs following them. 

They are usually placed at the end of the sentence, after the verb, and they are preceded by a preposition. (of, for, at, from, in, between...) 

 The expression 'between you and me" is unchangeable. 

'Between you and I' is incorrect.

 To find the DOC, ask the question 'who?' or 'what?' after the verb.

3) LET's GO FURTHER: YOU and I...' OR 'YOU and ME...' : 

a) - You must have faced this hesitation... "Err, which one is it...?"

"Ha, luckily, there's the song *, the one we can hear everywhere! There we go..."

(* 'You and me belong together...' by Mark Ambor.) 'Is that good?' I frown... 

Well, let me see... Which one is it? Hard luck! Both forms exist and can be right or wrong depending on what is explained above... 

My Mum loves my sister and me (? /and I?)... 

Who loves who? My Mum! My Mum is the subject (Mum loves whom? My sister and me. 'My sister and me' are the 'DOCs (direct object complements)'.

✔️ Therefore, 'my sister and me' is correct.  

Let's go back to the lyrics of the song...

b) - You and me (You and I?) belong together like cold iced-tea and warmer weather.

The verb is 'belong'. 'Belong' to whom or what? There's no DOC. 'I'm looking for the subject of the verb''. 'who' belongs? 'You and I'.

The pronouns are subjective!  

Therefore, there's a mistake all along the song. [which is quite frequent in songs, but with this structure, the mistake is quite common among some natives.]

It is, of course, the same for all the other pronouns: she and I/ you and they/

and even nouns (you must remember that a pronoun replaces a noun) my mother and I/  my sister and me, etc. 

  Tip n° 1: when the subject or complement are made of several words, a simple yet effective tip is to eliminate “you and” mentally from your sentences. 

If the sentence flows smoothly and makes sense without the second part of the subject, then, it means the expression is a subject. If you eliminate the complement, and the sentence makes sense, then the expression is a complement.

   Tip N° 2: 'You and I'= we / You and me'= us. It's easy to see that you can mentally replace  'You and I' by 'we' (subjective form) and 'You and me' by 'us',  complement (or objective) form. 

Here is the end of this "elementary lesson", which isn't so easy after all...  

Try to get the mental mechanisms which will enable you to make these expressions without errors, ... and without too much apprehensiveness!

You may do the test several times if necessary...

Good luck! THE FORCE is with you!  

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1. ' You and II and youMe and youYou and meI don't know should buy the tickets now when they are still available.'



2. 'The teacher gave you and Iyou and meme and youI and youI don't know ten extra exercises to be handed back tomorrow, for talking in class.'



3. 'For our sake, let’s keep that information between me and youI and youyou and Iyou and meI don't know. It will be much better.'



4. 'You and meI and youMe and youYou and II don't know will help your younger brother for his Maths on a regular basis. Would twice a week be alright?'



5. ' Me and youYou and IYou and meI and youI don't know can't stay out too late. You have school tomorrow, and I must go to work.'



6. 'Your brother Jim is hiding from him and youyou and himyou and your fatheryour father and youI don't know. His school called because he got into a brawl...'



7. 'Could you suggest somewhere for me and your sisteryour sister and Iyour sister and meI and your sisterI don't know to go next weekend? Not too far, because you'll drive us there...'



8. The rain was pouring down on you and Ime and youyou and meI and youI don't know, and my friends, when we were all waiting at the bus stop.



9. 'The manager said he’s probably going to give me and our teamI and our teamour team and meour team and II don't know the rest of the day off.



10. The choir director thinks that I and youme and youyou and meyou and II don't know should sing together on our solo.