Is it “he and I” or “he and me?” Which is the grammatically correct form to use when saying the phrase “he and I?” An object pronoun can be difficult to use correctly when writing American English. For example, we would say, “John and me.” And not “John and I.”
So which is correct, “he and I” or “he and me?” Learn more in this American English guide.
Phrase | Correct/Incorrect |
He and I | Correct |
He and me | Incorrect |
Which is correct, “he and I” or “he and me?”
The grammatically correct phrase is “he and I” when it is placed before the verb and the subject of a sentence. “He and me” is incorrect unless it is stated as “him and me,” where both object pronouns are getting referred to in the sentence.
For example, “He and I are going to the local movie theater later to celebrate his birthday.”
Is “he and me” ever correct?
It’s common for a subject(I) + verb structure to get used in most American English sentences. Technically, “he and me” is always incorrect. And should never get used. The alternative would be “he and me,” where both objects are referenced in the sentence.
Sentence examples using “he and I”
Here are sentence examples where “he and I” is getting used:
- He and I are going to head to the park to play tennis.
- He and I love to drink lemonade on a very hot summer day.
When to use “he and me”
The word “me” is the object pronoun (personal pronoun), meaning that they receive the action of the sentence. “Him” is the object pronoun (personal pronoun) of the word “he.”
When the two are referring to the same thing, we can use “he and me.” Here are sentence examples:
- They wanted to play a game with him and me.
- The artist at the pier decided to take a picture of him and me.
Inside this article
Fact checked:
Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.
Core lessons
Glossary
- Abstract Noun
- Accusative Case
- Anecdote
- Antonym
- Active Sentence
- Adverb
- Adjective
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Adjective Clause
- Adjective Phrase
- Ampersand
- Anastrophe
- Adverbial Clause
- Appositive Phrase
- Clause
- Compound Adjective
- Complex Sentence
- Compound Words
- Compound Predicate
- Common Noun
- Comparative Adjective
- Comparative and Superlative
- Compound Noun
- Compound Subject
- Compound Sentence
- Copular Verb
- Collective Noun
- Colloquialism
- Conciseness
- Consonance
- Conditional
- Concrete Noun
- Conjunction
- Conjugation
- Conditional Sentence
- Comma Splice
- Correlative Conjunction
- Coordinating Conjunction
- Coordinate Adjective
- Cumulative Adjective
- Dative Case
- Determiner
- Declarative Sentence
- Declarative Statement
- Direct Object Pronoun
- Direct Object
- Diction
- Diphthong
- Dangling Modifier
- Demonstrative Pronoun
- Demonstrative Adjective
- Direct Characterization
- Definite Article
- Doublespeak
- False Dilemma Fallacy
- Future Perfect Progressive
- Future Simple
- Future Perfect Continuous
- Future Perfect
- First Conditional
- Irregular Adjective
- Irregular Verb
- Imperative Sentence
- Indefinite Article
- Intransitive Verb
- Introductory Phrase
- Indefinite Pronoun
- Indirect Characterization
- Interrogative Sentence
- Intensive Pronoun
- Inanimate Object
- Indefinite Tense
- Infinitive Phrase
- Interjection
- Intensifier
- Infinitive
- Indicative Mood
- Participle
- Parallelism
- Prepositional Phrase
- Past Simple Tense
- Past Continuous Tense
- Past Perfect Tense
- Past Progressive Tense
- Present Simple Tense
- Present Perfect Tense
- Personal Pronoun
- Personification
- Persuasive Writing
- Parallel Structure
- Phrasal Verb
- Predicate Adjective
- Predicate Nominative
- Phonetic Language
- Plural Noun
- Punctuation
- Punctuation Marks
- Preposition
- Preposition of Place
- Parts of Speech
- Possessive Adjective
- Possessive Determiner
- Possessive Case
- Possessive Noun
- Proper Adjective
- Proper Noun
- Present Participle
- Prefix
- Predicate