Pronoun usage: I, me, myself

[marenparn]

I got sort of confused about the usage of personal pronouns 'I', 'me', and 'myself'.

Actually I'm in the middle of translating an article which headline is 'E-learning and I', or should it be 'E-learning and Me'? The latter doesn't sound very educated, does it?

Thanks a lot in advance for your reassurance

 

[David L.]

In a title as that is, it is quite acceptable. eg A famous book entitled, The Egg and I; the film Withnail and I
In speech, it would depend on the sentence:
The Queen would say, "My husband and I wish to thank..."

"The Queen presented a medal to my husband and me for services to the empire."

 

[oakwoodbank]

There is indeed a common misuse of 'myself' these days, even by TV announcers!
The simplest way to avoid misuse of 'myself in a sentence is to follow the following advice:

Myself is a reflexive or stressed pronoun, which means that, generally speaking, it should be used in conjunction with the subject pronoun I, not instead of the object pronoun me. It can therefore be used properly in the following example circumstances:

I bought myself a car.
I myself started the company. (Though even here it might be considered superfluous)
I did the laundry by myself.
I feel like myself again.
Tired of waiting, I just did it myself.
For myself, I prefer not to be invited.
​

So, if there isn't an 'I' in the sentence it is probably best to avoid using 'myself' in it.

 

[LoredanaC]

I was surprised to have one of my letters 'corrected' by a colleague - from "contact me" to "contact myself". Although I was certain I was correct, I found I could not explain why. I particularly liked Oakwoodbank's explanation. Thank you all.:up:

 

[David L.]

I particularly liked Oakwoodbank's explanation.

I did too! :up: