I am typing an essay for my English 101 class, and I have come across a sentence in which Microsoft Word detects a grammatical error. It suggests that I change the pronoun "I" to "me", although, I remember I was taught in school to use "I" in occasions like this one. It would be of great assistance if someone could explain which pronoun is correct and why that is so. Thank you in advance!


"Thankfully, my grandparents did that for my parents and I, giving me the opportunity to be born in the United States."

You remember wrongly, or were taught incorrectly. Use me when it is an object. In this case, FOR is a preposition, and parents and me are the objects.

Microsoft Word is correct.

The pronoun is the object of the preposition, "for." "I" is a subject pronoun, so "me," an object pronoun should be used. The correct phrase is "for my parents and me."

An easy way to figure out constructions using "and" is to omit the other word.

For example: would you say
did that for I
or
did that for me?

Oh, okay! I have been using "I" in instances like that my entire life. Thank you both so much!

The sentence you have provided is: "Thankfully, my grandparents did that for my parents and I, giving me the opportunity to be born in the United States."

In this sentence, the pronoun in question is "I." Microsoft Word suggests changing it to "me." So, let's take a closer look at the grammatical rule governing the use of pronouns in your sentence.

The key to determining whether to use "I" or "me" is understanding their roles as subjective and objective pronouns in the sentence.

Subjective pronouns, such as "I," are used when the pronoun acts as the subject of a sentence or a clause. In your sentence, "I" is part of the compound object of the preposition "for." Therefore, "my parents and I" act as the recipients of what your grandparents did.

Objective pronouns, such as "me," are used when the pronoun acts as the object of a verb or preposition. In your sentence, "me" is part of the prepositional phrase "giving me the opportunity." Here, "me" is the object of the verb "giving."

To determine which pronoun is correct in this context, you can simplify the sentence by removing "my parents."

For instance, you would say: "Thankfully, my grandparents did that for me, giving me the opportunity to be born in the United States."

By removing "my parents," you can clearly see that "me" is the correct pronoun to use in this sentence because it functions as the object of the preposition "for" and the verb "giving."

To avoid confusion, it is important to remember that the rule of using "I" as the subject of the sentence applies even when compound subjects are involved.

In conclusion, the corrected sentence would be: "Thankfully, my grandparents did that for my parents and me, giving me the opportunity to be born in the United States."