I or Me?

Parents have been patiently correcting their kids on the use of “I” over “me” for ages. Few parents explain why “I” should be used over “me”, though, and thus kids have no way of remembering when to use “I” or me”.

Consider the following examples:

John and me are going to the movies.
John is going to the movies with Bob and me.

In the first sentence, “John and me” should be corrected to “John and I”. The second sentence, however, is correct. Why? In the first sentence, “John and I” are SUBJECTS. (Who is going? John is going. I am going.) Therefore, the pronouns used must be SUBJECT pronouns.

In the second sentence, “John and me” are OBJECTS. (With whom is John going to the movies? With me. With Bob.) “Bob and me” are OBJECTS in this case. Therefore, OBJECT pronouns are used.