Me or Myself?

[HighPriest]

Is it ever correct to say "I thought about me"?
Is the following sentence ungrammatical: "I thought about me and my friends playing in the backyard"?

 

[SoothingDave]

Not a teacher.

"I thought about me" is grammatical. "Me" is the object of the preposition "about."

"I thought about my friends and I playing in the back yard" is how I would say the second sentence. The phrase "my friends and I playing in the back yard" is the object of the preposition "about." The subject of this phrase is "my friends and I," so you should use the subject form "I."

(You also always should name yourself last in a list. So, it is "my friends and I," not "I and my friends.")

 

[HighPriest]

Dave:
If the subject and the object of the sentence are the same person, we use reflexive pronouns : "I cut myself while shaving".
So how come "I thought about me" is correct? Would you say "I thought about myself" is ungrammatical?

 

[Rover_KE]

Dave did not say "I thought about myself" is ungrammatical. It is perfectly grammatical.

I disagree with Dave on one point: "I thought about my friends and I playing in the back yard".

This should be "I thought about my friends and me playing in the back yard".

Rover

 

[HighPriest]

Anyway, the question remains - we use reflexive pronouns when the action in the sentence doubles back on the subject, and yet you can come across sentences like "I thought about me". Is it something acceptable in everyday conversation or just a common mistake?

 

[emsr2d2]

Dave did not say "I thought about myself" is ungrammatical. It is perfectly grammatical.

I disagree with Dave on one point: "I thought about my friends and I playing in the back yard".

This should be "I thought about my friends and me playing in the back yard".

Rover

I agree. One of the first rules I learnt at school, at a young age, was how to decide between "I" and "me" in this kind of sentence.

The trick is to remove the other person/people involved and see if still makes sense.

So:

I thought about my friends and I playing in the backyard.
Remove the friends.
I thought about I playing in the backyard.
Clearly wrong!
I thought about my friends and me playing in the backyard.
Remove the friends.
I thought about me playing in the backyard.
YES!

 

[emsr2d2]

Anyway, the question remains - we use reflexive pronouns when the action in the sentence doubles back on the subject, and yet you can come across sentences like "I thought about me". Is it something acceptable in everyday conversation or just a common mistake?

"I thought about myself", to me, has a slightly different connotation. It almost sounds as if you're saying that you were being selfish.

There were twelve cakes and thirteen people. I thought about myself first and quickly took a cake to make sure I got one.

However, I do see your point when you're not talking in the first person singular.

He thought about himself all those years ago, and how handsome he had been. (We wouldn't say "He thought about him".)

You were thinking about yourself on holiday last year, weren't you? (We wouldn't say "You were thinking about you on holiday...")

 

[TheParser]

Is it ever correct to say "I thought about me"?
Is the following sentence ungrammatical: "I thought about me and my friends playing in the backyard"?

NOT A TEACHER

(1) "I bought it for Constance and myself."

Use myself because I precedes it in the same clause.

Source: Bruce L. Liles, A Basic Grammar of Modern English.

(2) "I knew (that) there would be trouble between Mark and me."

Not: myself: "Normally a reflexive pronoun occurs in the same clause

with its governing substantive."

Source: Paul Roberts, Understanding Grammar.

(I guess that there are two clauses: I knew + There would be trouble

between Mark and ___. Since I is not in the second clause, one may not

use myself.)

(3) ONLY my conclusions:

(a) I thought about my friends and myself. = correct. (I is in the

same clause, I believe.)

(b) I thought about my friends and me. = correct; avoids

saying "my" two times.

(4) Webster's Dictionary of English Usage gives this advice about using

a reflexive pronoun after a preposition:

"Use it only when it seems natural to you."

 

[Nightmare85]

***Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.***

I agree. One of the first rules I learnt at school, at a young age, was how to decide between "I" and "me" in this kind of sentence.

The trick is to remove the other person/people involved and see if still makes sense.

So:

I thought about my friends and I playing in the backyard.
Remove the friends.
I thought about I playing in the backyard.
Clearly wrong!
I thought about my friends and me playing in the backyard.
Remove the friends.
I thought about me playing in the backyard.
YES!

I thought about that: My friends and I playing in the backyard.
You don't think about anyone here, you only think about playing in the backyard.
And who plays in the backyard?
"My friends and I", not "My friends and me.".

So I believe there is a lack in your logic.

 

[corum]

(I guess that there are two clauses: I knew + There would be trouble

[/B]

The two clauses are:
I knew that there would be trouble (=matrix clause or superordinate clause; superordinate to the sub clause)

+

that there would be trouble (=sub clause).

Is it ever correct to say "I thought about me"?

"Use it only when it seems natural to you."

:lol::up:

4. We use a reflexive pronoun as the object of a preposition when the object of the preposition refers to the same person or thing as the subject of the verb in the same clause.

Reflexive Pronouns

 

[Nightmare85]

Hello corum, I'm glad to see you.

Cheers!

 

[corum]

Hello corum, I'm glad to see you.

Cheers!

Thx. But you do not see me, or do you? And I am glad that you are glad.

 

[corum]

I thought about me playing in the backyard.
YES!

My nonsense goes like this:

I thought about [something].
I thought about [me playing in the backyard]. -- Philo would probably bite our heads of, but the fact remains that there is some informal tolerance for 'me' in place of 'my' in the bracketed sub clause.

I thought about [my playing in the backyard].

And we can also have this:

I thought about myself, (while/during/etc.) playing in the yard. -- absolute clause

?I thought about me playing in the backyard. :?::tick:

 

[corum]

Forgot to add:

I thought [about me], playing in the garden.

is:

 

[Pedroski]

"I thought about me and my friends playing in the backyard"?

A little girl to be looked after, a garden full of hungry alligators.

1) I thought about her playing in the garden, and decided it wasn't the best idea since sliced bread.

'her' has the same status as 'me', so if you accept 1), you would have to accept

2) I thought [about me], playing in the garden.

How do you analyze 'playing'? Verb, adverb, adjective, noun?