me

[[t]mi[/t]]

pron.

1) fun the objective case of I, used as a direct or indirect object: They asked me to the party

Give me your hand[/ex]

2) cvb fun (used instead of the pronoun I in the predicate after the verb to be):

It's me[/ex]

3) fun (used instead of the pronoun my before a gerund or present participle):

Did you hear about me getting promoted?[/ex]

4) cvb fun of or involving an obsessive interest in one's own satisfaction:

the me decade[/ex]

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Etymology: bef. 900; ME me, OE mē (dat. and acc. sing.); c. D mij, OHG mir usage: The traditional rule is that personal pronouns after the verb to be take the nominative case (I; she; he; we; they). Some 400 years ago, me and other objective pronouns (him; her; us; them) began to replace the subjective forms after be. Today, such constructions—It's me. That's him. It must be them—are almost universal in informal speech. In formal speech and in edited writing, however, the subjective forms are used: It must be they. The figure at the window had been she, not her husband. The objective forms have also replaced the subjective forms in speech in such constructions as Me neither. Who, them? and frequently in comparisons after as or than: She's no faster than him at climbing. Another traditional rule is that gerunds, being verb forms functioning as nouns, must be preceded by the possessive pronoun (my; your; her; its; their; etc.): The landlord objected to my (not me) having a dog. In practice, however, both objective and possessive forms appear before gerunds, the possessive being more common in formal, edited writing, the objective more common in informal writing and speech. See also than