Me, Myself and I
Three words, all referring to.... me, myself and I. All of them are acceptable, used in the correct manner. So;
Me
Me is the culprit for much of the nervousness surrounding which of the words to use, thanks to a myth that has mistakenly arisen from the notion that me cannot be as 'correct' as I in a sentence. A quick test - which of the sentences below is correct?
- John invited you and I to dinner tonight
- John invited you and me to dinner tonight
If you chose ...and I, you were wrong. Me represents the first person singular (I) as the object of the verb. If the verb is doing something to I, then I becomes a me.
Myself
Many people may prefer to pick myself over me, thinking it to be more formal and better than me:
- The hooligan shouted insults at my wife and myself
- Please send this to myself
This is wrong. In the examples above, me should have been used instead of myself. So when should you use myself? It's easy when you know how - if you've already used I in the sentence
- * I went there all by myself
- * I'm not very fond of meat, myself.
In all cases, myself should only be used to refer to one person - never in sentence constructions such as "my wife and myself" ("my wife and I" or" my wife and me" should be used instead).
...And I
So when should I be used? I should be used when the first person singular is doing something, i.e. carrying out the action in the verb.
- * I walked the dog
- *I spoke with the plumber
Me, Myself and I are all equally valid words in the right context. Whilst most people have no problem using I correctly, many people stumble over usage of me and myself. Do not be afraid to use me - it has its own place in formal writing, as does myself. But take care not to mix them up, otherwise your writing may suffer and become stilted for your reader.