I, me, and myself
Have you ever been unsure whether to use the pronouns I, me or myself in a particular context?
In formal writing, I should only be used as a subject of the verb, and me as the object.
So, which of the following is correct?
The club president spoke to Sally and I.
The club president spoke to Sally and me.
If you answered me, you are correct. The club president is the sentence's subject, and you
and Sally are the objects. If you're ever unsure in this situation remove the other person
from the sentence. The club president emailed I is obviously wrong.
Myself is also an object. The club president spoke to Sally and myself, might sound as acceptable as The club president spoke to Sally and me. You may even think myself sounds better - but it's wrong.
While myself and me are both objects, myself is a special object. You should use myself instead of me as the object, only when you are the subject of the sentence. For example:
I will include myself in all future communication.
I cannot dress myself.
Myself can be either an emphatic or reflexive pronoun.
• When used for emphasis, it is an emphatic pronoun - I did it myself.
• When used to show you doing something to yourself, and it corresponds to a pronoun previously used in the sentence, it is a reflexive pronoun - I saw myself in the mirror.
To avoid confusion in the use of I, me and myself, remember:
• me always functions as the object, while I is always the subject.
• You should only use myself when you've referred to yourself earlier in the sentence.
However, standard usage in the English language often admits of exceptions and Fowler’s says that myself is also acceptable when used:
• as the subject of a verb, such as in: Dan and myself were singled out by the police,
• as an object of a verb, such as in: The police took Dan and myself in for questioning. These usages have long historical pedigrees, including in the writings of Bunyan, Dr Johnson,
Scott, Hardy, and Ruskin, and for that reason, are acceptable. However, if you feel this sounds a little affected, you could resort to the more common usage of I and me. Dan and I were singled out by the police. The police took Dan and me in for questioning.
Finally, have you ever wondered why I is written in capitals? In Old and Middle English, the word for I was closer to its German cousin ich, and often spelled ic. The pronunciation changed over time as did the spelling, losing the consonant c. Initially, the new word i, was left lowercase, but by the late 1300s it was written slightly taller than its lowercase equivalent and from that point was typically capitalised. The capitalised form became standard with the advent of printing in the late 15c. Historians attribute the capitalisation of I to two factors: the capitalised word is easier to read; and it gives added weight to the pronoun used to describe the individual writer. None of the other pronouns have received the same treatment because I is the only single-letter pronoun. The only other single-letter word in English, a, has remained lowercase because it has a more prominent presence on the page than the inconspicuous lowercase i.
Sources:
Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Fourth Edition, 2015.
https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/whycapitali/
https://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/snr/3340/18503
https://wmich.edu/writing/myself
https://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/me_myself.htm