Rule for I/Me?

Question

Is there an easy way to know when to say I vs Me? Like "Ben, Jonah and I are going to the store." and is is "Tell Luke and me."

Or is it tell Luke and I?

Answer 1

Let me share some examples with you.

Ben, Jonah and I are going to the store- is correct. Take out the Ben and Jonah and see if it sounds right with the "I" or "me".

Me am going to the store- is not right. I am going to the store is- correct.

You wouldn't say "Tell I", you would say "Tell me." So Tell Luke and me is correct.

Does that make sense?

Answer 2

You can remove the extra information in a sentence and then see if it makes sense. For instance, remove the "Luke and" from "Tell Luke and me," and you get "Tell me," meaning "Tell Luke and me" is correct. In your other example, remove the "Ben, Jonah and" and you have "I [am] going to the store." It works every time.

Answer 3

It's not necessarily an "easy" way, but the grammatical reason for the difference is that "I" is the subjective case and "me" is the objective case. That means when the word is in the subject of the sentence, use "I." When it is the object of a verb or preposition, use "me."

BTW, your example usage in your question is correct. In sentence 1, "Ben, Jonah and I" is the subject of the sentence. In sentence 2, it is an imperative, so (You) understood is the subject of the sentence, "tell" is the verb and "Luke and me" is the object of the verb.

Answer 4

Make sure they agree. For instance: "Give the book to Bill & me." You check it by saying: "Give the book to Bill" & "Give the book to me." Whereas, you wouldn't say "Give the book to I." "Would you like to come to lunch with Bill & I?" is wrong, because you wouldn't say "Would you like to come to lunch with I?" Both your examples are correct.