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Моя милост, себе си и мен – всеки език има по една всеизвестна триада от шизофренични местоимения или изрази, с която обяснява комплексността на Аза. Но текущата статия няма да се впуска във философски и психологически размисли за егото и свръхегото, а ще се съсредоточи върху една често срещана трудност в английксия език – употребата на me, myself & I. Започваме поредицата за често срещани грешки точно с тази, защото от аза тръгват всички пътища – и тези към преодоляването на трудностите и премахването на грешките от речта ни. И така – на вашето внимание – me, myself & I.

За да не ги бъркаме първо трябва да си признаем проблема. Не този, че понякога усещаме поне три гласа в главата си, а този, че me, myself & I могат да бъдат наистина объркващи. Щом веднъж го направим ще изградим в себе си навика да се замисляме преди да кажем нещо странничко като "I want to get me a breakfast" (myself).

So... Listen:

I – this means that I do the action.
I can, I want, I am going, I say.

Me – this means that someone else does an action that has a direct effect on me.
Love me, show me, ask me, tell me.

Myself – this means that I do an action and it has a direct effect on nobody else but me. So, you always see it after 'I' was already used in the sentence.
I thought to myself, I asked myself...

Most confusing examples and how to deal with them
The confusion usually comes when there is not only but me but also another person involved. When you need to write or say that, for example, you and a friend went to the cinema, ask yourself whether you were doing the action or not. Another way to check is by making two separate sentences about the activity you did together.

Lora is going to the cinema.
I am going to the cinema. You are definitely doing the action. So:
Lora and I are going to the cinema.  V
Me and Lora are going to the cinema.  X Me is going? You cannot say that and it is the easiest way to check your sentence.

Lora and I saw John at the party. V Forget about Lora. I saw Jim at the party. Correct.
Lora and me saw John at the party. X


They invited you.
They invited me.
They invited you and me.
They did the action.
They invited you and I. X

Shocking - It is me vs. It is I
The traditional grammar rule states that after the verb 'be' you use subject pronouns (I, he, she, it, we, you, they).
'It is I'
'It was I who dropped the phone in shock when Lora answered it.'
'Who did it?' ' It was I.'

Nevertheless, almost everyone says, “It is me,” so it can be said say that “It is I” is almost extinct.

In the end, as a mantra, you can say to yourself:

I am excellent at English!
My excellent English will lead me to success.
I am congratulating myself for the excellent English!