It is I or It is me?

Question

I teach English in Mexico. Nearly all the grammar books indicate that we must use a subject pronoun after a linking verb, as in the following.

Knock, knock.
"Who is it?" asked the Wolf in a grandmother-like voice.
"It is I, Little Red Ridinghood," said the girl.

"The winners were we!" exclaimed all four Bobbsey Twins in unison.

"Romeo, a Montague art thou," declared Juliet.

You may have trouble finding the exact quotes, but I think you get what I mean.

Do real people ever use such phrases, or do native English speakers always use, "It's me," "It was us," or "the winners were them;" etc.

Do English teachers teach this subject-pronoun nonsense simply to confuse their students?

Which forms do you use?

Answer 1

I'm an English teacher, too, and I always insist that papers be written correctly. To me, it sounds dreadful to say, "It is me." We just have to get our students used to speaking correctly, as most educated people did one hundred years ago. If we accept, "It is me," pretty soon we'll be accepting, "Me and him went to the store." We hear it all of the time and it is becoming acceptable. But we simply can't let common slang usage become the norm. "It is we," and "It is they," sound even more awkward, and so we have to concentrate on saying these things correctly all of the time until they no longer sound awkward. I love English. It expresses so much. And people all over the world who learn textbook English sound so much more intelligent than the majority of Americans.

Answer 2

"It is I" is correct. A predicate nominative restates the subject.

I am an English teacher, and yes, I teach this subject pronoun nonsense because I would prefer my students to come out of my classes at least having been exposed to correct language. They get enough of the other kind on their own. It's my responsibility to teach "correct" grammar, not to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Answer 3

When writing, these forms are correct. They are more formal versions (that are gramatically correct) of the slang that people typically use everyday. For example, I would normally say "it's me", "we" (for "it was us"), or "they were the winners" (for "the winners were them"). I guess that when were are talking, we seem to get into an informal habit, and when I write a paper or essay, I try to make my speech more formal and gramatically correct. Anyways, I hope this helps you!!!

Answer 4

it may be so in those grammar books but people would probably say it is me, they were the winners, etc.