I or me, oh my!

My Cat, My Pie, and I

Just watch my¹ cat and me² when we debate
whose pie it is there on my plate.

I may believe it’s mine³. Alas,
she knows what’s mine is hers.

My husband stares at us, my cat and me⁴,
and wants me⁵ to resist her piteous plea.

Of course, it all depends on me⁶,
because it's I⁷ who should have sway.

But we, my cat and I⁸, know whom I will obey
and do agree that she is mightier than I⁹.

And I do know myself¹⁰ and know the rule:
It will be she who wins and I who is the fool.¹¹

But she and I¹², we shroud all this in secrecy,
a private matter - between just her and me¹³.

Nobody else but she and I¹⁴ will grasp
who ate the cream with quite some zest:

Not I but she¹⁵ – who won’t confess.
So, hush! It wasn’t I¹⁶ who told you this.




1) My is the possessive form of I when it is followed by a noun.
2) Me is the object form of I. Somebody (subject) shall watch my cat and me (object).
3) Mine is the possessive form of I when it is NOT followed by a noun.
4) The cat and I are the object at which the husband stares. Moreover, a preposition (at) always requires the object form me.
5) Between a verb (want) and an infinitive (to resist), the object form me is needed.
6) After a preposition (here on) follows the object form me .
7) After linking verbs (be, seem, appear, become), the subject form I is required. Linking verbs link the subject (here it) to its modifier (here I) that describes the subject.
8) "my cat and I" is an appositive phrase explaining the subject (we) and must therefore also be in subject form.
9) She is mightier than I am.
10) Myself is the reflexive form of I. A sentence like "I cut myself" means that the subject (I) is affected by its action (to cut). When "I cut the meat," the cutting does not affect myself.
11) Another example of the personal pronoun after a linking verb: Subject (it), linking verb (will be), modifiers (she who wins/I who is the fool).
12) Appositive phrase preceding the subject (we)
13) Object form after preposition (between)
14) "She and I" are the subjects who will grasp what's going on.
15) Not I ate the cream but she did.
16) Another example of the subject form after a linking verb