Writing & Grammar: It's All About Me, Myself and I

by Jennie Ruby 

Thanks go out to each of the 40 people who responded to the Me, Myself, and I challenge. The three of us don't feel so lonely now. Correct answers to the Me, Myself, and I challenge are brought to you by Marta Nelson. Explanations are from (me, myself, I).

1. I went to the store to buy myself a new shirt. [Myself is the indirect object of to buy and is also reflexive because I bought it for myself.]
2. The first shirt I tried on was too large for me. [Me is the object of the preposition for. No reflexive action.]
3. The clerk told me that another department carried shirts the right size for people such as I [am. With comparisons, the best policy is to complete the comparison and actually add the additional words. Here I would add the verb am to clarify that I is the subject of the verb. Without the word am, it looks as if the pronoun should be me as the object of the preposition.]
4. I hired myself to that department forthwith. [Myself is the reflexive pronoun with the action done by the same person who is the object of the verb.]
5. No one was happier than I [was] when I found the perfect shirt. [See sentence 3.]
6. I went home and congratulated myself on a successful shopping trip. [Myself is the reflexive pronoun since the direct object of the verb has the same person as its subject.]

Challenge: Fewer Versus Less

1. The plant had less / fewer strawberries than we expected.
2. There was less / fewer space in the garage after we parked the SUV.
3. We had less / fewer money after the reinvestment.
4. We had less / fewer dollars than Euros.
5. Ten items or less / fewer  [not a complete sentence because it is on on a sign]
6. Less / Fewer people attended the play than the drama teacher had hoped for.

Answers? Feel free to post them below.

Comments

[Anindita Basu]

Challenge: Fewer Versus Less

1. The plant had fewer strawberries than we expected.
2. There was less space in the garage after we parked the SUV.
3. We had less money after the reinvestment.
4. We had fewer dollars than Euros.
5. Ten items or fewer
6. Fewer people attended the play than the drama teacher had hoped for.

[Anagha Chandratrey]

The plant had fewer strawberries than we expected.
There was less space in the garage after we parked the SUV.
We had less money after the reinvestment.
We had fewer dollars than Euros.
Ten items or fewer
Fewer people attended the play than the drama teacher had hoped for.