Do you notice students mixing up pronoun cases, for example, writing, “Me and her went to the mall,” when the correct use would be, “She and I went to the mall”? It’s a common problem. But helping students understand and use the correct pronoun case is an easy fix.
Instead of teaching with the case labels — nominative, objective — use natural language. This strategy first involves separating the pronouns and then trying out the sentences that result:
- Is “Me went to the mall” correct?
- Is “Her went to the mall” correct?
Students easily recognize that both are incorrect uses of me and her. The corrected sentences are, “I went to the mall” and “She went to the mall.” Together therefore the compound subject would be, “She and I went to the mall.”
The same strategy holds for the objective case. Is “Dad bought ice cream for him and I” correct?
- “Dad bought ice cream for him” is okay.
- “Dad bought ice cream for I” isn’t.
Most students will readily make the correction: “Dad bought ice cream for him and me.”
Separating compound subjects and objects helps students hear incorrect pronoun cases and make corrections using natural language.
Incidentally, it’s also standard usage to put the other person first in a compound subject or a compound object: “She and I” rather than “I and she”; “him and me” rather than “me and him.”
With a little practice, most students can apply these pronoun fixes with little or no teacher prompting.
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