Me and my friends or My friends and I? Which is correct?

Me and my friends or My friends and I? Which is correct?

Grammar / By

“My friends and I” is grammatically correct when it is placed before the verb and is the subject of the sentence.

“I and my friends” is also correct but less common as it is more polite to put your friends first.

My friends and I are going to the cinema.

The most important thing to remember is that “I” is the subject pronoun(the person that does the action) and “me” is the object pronoun(the person that receives the action. You can read more about subject and object pronouns here. 

When “Me and my friends” is incorrect

“Me and my friends” is incorrect at the beginning of the sentence but it is common to hear people saying it all across the English-speaking world. 

People tend to make this mistake as the subject includes more than one noun. 

We are so used to subject(I) + verb that when this structure is disrupted, it can be easy to make a mistake.

I remember being corrected as a child that it is always “my friends and I “ and finding it difficult to say this structure. It is much easier to say “me and my friends” and for that reason, we often make this mistake.

Subject    verb

I                play tennis. 

 

Subject     verb     object

She           loves       me 

 

Subject                              verb

My friends and I             play tennis

When to use “Me and my friends”

“Me” is an object pronoun that means that you receive the action.

He punched me.

In this example, you received the punch. It doesn’t make sense to say “me punch”.

So…

You can only use “me and my friends” when you and your friends receive the action.

They started a fight with me and my friends. 

The artist painted a picture of my friends and me. 

Again, it is just a form of politeness to put “my friends” before “me”.

Let’s look at more examples of “me and my friend”

Let’s consider these sentences:

  1. The coach selected my friends and me for the team.
  2. The coach selected me and my friends for the team.

Now, let’s shorten them:

  1. The coach selected me for the team.
  2. The coach selected me for the team.

Both shortened sentences make sense, showing that either original sentence is correct.

Now, consider these sentences:

  1. My friends and I are attending a party.
  2. Me and my friends are attending a party.

Shorten them:

  1. I am attending a party.
  2. Me am attending a party.

Here, the first shortened sentence makes sense, but the second doesn’t. So, “My friends and I” is correct in the original sentence.

Let’s test our knowledge with a removal test

Fill in the blanks with either “my friends and I” or “me and my friends”:

  1. _______ went to the amusement park last weekend.
  2. The movie tickets were given to _______ by the school.
  3. _______ are planning a surprise party for our teacher.
  4. The football coach selected _______ to represent our school.
  5. She shared her snacks with _______ during the break.

Once you’ve filled in the blanks, check your answers with the Removal Test by taking out “my friends” and seeing if the sentence still makes sense.

Conor
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