A Grammar Lesson



I couldn't figure out if that sentence should be "The reading group is run by Yaron and I" or "The reading group is run by Yaron and me".

I know you should use "I" if it's the subject of the sentence and "me" if it's the object of the sentence. Since Yaron and I are doing something to the reading group (running it), it seems we're the subjects and the reading group is the object. Thus, it should be "Yaron and I".

But I also know the mnemonic of removing the other parties when determinng the first-person pronoun. "The reading group is run by I" sounds wrong, so it should be "Yaron and me".

So which is it?? Does the mnemonic hold in this case, or should the subject-object rule apply?

The correct answer: "Yaron and me". The error in my above logic was that, in passive voice sentences, the roles of the subject and object are reversed. Normally, the subject does things to the object. In "I ran the race", I'm the subject and the race is the object. The passive voice version of that sentence is "The race was run by me." It turns out that "me" is now the object, not the subject. In passive voice, the object does things to the subject.

So now this lesson was learned by you and me.