Stop abusing the poor pronouns

English has always been my favorite subject, but I rarely touch it in my speaker training blog.  Today, I have to, because I just can't take it anymore!  This morning I listened to one of my favorite radio shows, and I cringed when one of the hosts said, in quoting Tiger Woods, "That is between Elin and I."  No, Tiger Woods has nothing to do with this.  Do you see the real mistake?  Do you see it, do you see it, do you see it?  It's pronoun abuse, people!  The poor pronouns.

In public speaking, correct grammar is a must.  I don't touch grammar often, but I have to right here.  This mistake is not only common, but it is almost worse than poor subject-verb agreement to me.  I have heard so many national broadcasters fall into this trap over the past few years.  OK, the guilty parties are normally sports broadcasters.  It is a mistake that has grown nonetheless.  In the case mentioned above, it would be correct to say "between Elin and me."  Although it sounds correct (to some) to say "between Elin and I", that is absolutely wrong.

Here's the explanation.  The pronoun, in this case, is the object of the preposition.  We use the pronouns "I", "he", "she" and "we" when they are subjects in sentences.  Remember, also, that we use the pronouns "me", "him", "here" and "us" when they are objects in a sentence.  Names and pronouns which follow prepositions are objects.  I found a great web page on the proper use of pronouns on the Towson University's web site.

So, please, be kind to your pronouns.  That's been on my chest for a while.  I feel better.