Between you and ("me" or "I")? [duplicate]

Is it correct to say "between you and me" or "between you and I"?

I am not a native English speaker, so please bear with me.

Just between you and I, the answer depends on whether or not you're in school, or writing for a boss, or writing for yourself:

• If you're in school, then your teachers probably want "between you and me".

• If you have an employer, then they probably have their own style guide and editors, and a preferred style. Most likely they too will usually prefer "between you and me".

• If you are writing for yourself, then you'll use the version that you think appropriate for the prose you're writing.

For decent info that's easy to understand, you might be interested in a usage dictionary, such as Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. In that way, you can see the involved style issues and other stuff. (The entry is "Between you and I" in MWCDEU.)

As to grammar: Usage similar to "between you and me" is part of today's standard English, while the evaluation on usage similar to "between you and I" is perhaps not so clear-cut. According to the 2002 reference grammar by Huddleston and Pullum et al., The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL), they think that usage similar to "between you and I" should be considered a variety of today's standard English. CGEL, page 463,

[23] i

• a. % The present was supposed to represent [Helen and I], that was the problem.

• b. % Any postgrad who has any concerns about working conditions or security in shared offices is welcome to approach either [Ann Brown or I] with them.

• c. % It would be an opportunity for [you and I] to spend some time together.

• d. % He had intended to leave at dawn, without [you or I] knowing anything about it.

. . . Construction [23.i] with I as final coordinate is, however, so common in speech and used by so broad a range of speakers that it has to be recognized as a variety of Standard English, . . .

.

EDITED: Since a recent comment brought up the issue of hypercorrection, and since an old thread has also been brought up (one that has plenty of bad info in it), this following info might be helpful.

Some more info from CGEL, page 463,

[23] ii

• a. % They've awarded [he and his brother] certificates of merit.

• b. % There's a tendency for [he and I] to clash.

. . .

[24]

• i. % They've invited [the Smiths and we] to lunch.

• ii. % Liz will be back next week, so I've asked Ed to return the key to [you or she].

Because these coordinate nominatives are perceived to be associated with avoidance of stigmatized accusatives in subject coordinations, they are often described as hypercorrections. This is to imply that they are 'incorrect', not established forms in the standard language. Construction [23.i] with I as final coordinate is, however, so common in speech and used by so broad a range of speakers that it has to be recognized as a variety of Standard English, and we will reserve the term hypercorrection for examples like [23.ii] and [24].

There is more info on page 463, which I've omitted from the excerpts, that is related to this issue of hypercorrection. (But my fingers are tired now.)

Between you and me is the correct usage.

This is an English teacher's classic. Because the phrase occurs after the preposition between, you have to use the object pronoun me rather than the subject pronoun I.

I even found a proper source to back me up. But, this one is a classic.

Also, there is great descriptive evidence that 'between you and me' is much more common: