I or me

[kohyoongliat]

There are three people in my family. They are my parents and I / me .

Which pronoun is the correct one?

Thank you very much.

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by kohyoongliat

There are three people in my family. They are my parents and I / me .

Which pronoun is the correct one?

Thank you very much.

Me

[kohyoongliat]

Thanks, Anglika.

[angliholic]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Me

Anglika, how are you?
But when you write it in a formal register, would you still use "me"?

[mykwyner]

Since the pronoun is neither the object of a transitive verb, nor the object of a preposition, I would use the nominative I.

They are my parents and I.

It is very common (and natural) for us to say, "These are them," "That is her," and "It is us," but they are not correct.

[Cyd Gorman]

the answer is (me)

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by mykwyner

It is very common (and natural) for us to say, "These are them," "That is her," and "It is us," but they are not correct.

Natural and common determines what is correct in grammar. There is simply no other sensible way that it can be done, M.

Your examples are fully grammatical. How could it be even remotely possible that they are not correct?

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by kohyoongliat

They are my parents and I / me .

Which pronoun is the correct one?

formal <subject pronoun "I" after BE>
The people in my family are my mom, my dad, and I

colloquial <object pronoun "me" after BE>
The people in my family are my mom, my dad, and me
The people in my family are me, my mom, and my dad



The American Heritage Book of English Usage offers the following food for thought:

"personal pronouns after forms of be. Traditional grammar requires the nominative form of the pronoun following the verb be: It is I (not me). Nearly everyone finds this rule difficult to follow. [The reason being, English in not Latin. Sentence structure and word order are meaningful in English.] Even if everyone could follow it, in informal contexts the nominative pronoun often sounds pedantic and even ridiculous [ Woe is I?, My big mouth and I?] But constructions like It is me have been condemned in the classroom and in writing handbooks for so long that there seems little likelihood that they will ever be entirely acceptable in formal writing."

All the best.

[Casiopea]

Welcome, Cyd.

[dihen]

Originally Posted by riverkid

Natural and common determines what is correct in grammar. There is simply no other sensible way that it can be done, M.
`
Your examples are fully grammatical. How could it be even remotely possible that they are not correct?

I think formal grammar and informal/non-standard grammar are like two different sets of grammar.
`
It is certainly possible to copy a word/phrase/construction directly from another foreign language and say something ungrammatical in either formal English or in informal english.
`
some examples of constructions ungrammatical in either formal English or informal English:
`
"* I very like it." ("very" cannot directly modify a verb)
`
"* He not knows I am talking about what." (lack of WH-movement, "not" directly negating a verb)
`
"* Did you read his that book?" (determiners cannot appear after possessive determiners)