me
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
| Rank of this word in the English language, from analyzing texts from Project Gutenberg. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| their | one | so | #40: me | an | we | who |
[edit] Pronunciation
- (UK) enPR: mē, IPA: /miː/, SAMPA: /mi:/
- (US) enPR: mē, IPA: /mi/, SAMPA: /mi/
- Audio (US)help, file
- Rhymes: -iː
[edit] Pronoun
me first person singular pronoun, referring to the speaker
- As the direct object of a verb.
- Can you hear me?
- (obsolete) As a reflexive direct object of a verb.
- 1819, John Keats, La Belle Dame sans Merci - And I awoke, and found me here.
- As the object of a preposition.
- Come with me.
- As the indirect object of a verb.
- He gave me this.
- (US, colloquial) As a reflexive indirect object of a verb; the ethical dative.
- 1993, Harper’s Magazine, April - When I get to college, I’m gonna get me a white Nissan Sentra.
- (colloquial) As the complement of the copula (“be”, “is”).
- It wasn't me.
- (Australia, UK, especially Northeastern) Preceding a noun, marking ownership.
- Wilfred Owen (1893–1918), The Letter - And give us back me cigarette!
- (colloquial) As the subject of a verb, used with and.
- Me and my friends played a game.
- (nonstandard) As the subject of a verb, used without and.
- 1844, Charles Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, Vol. II - One of them, whose sobriquet was Big-headed Blackboy, was stretched out before the fire, and no answer could be obtained from him, but a drawling repetition, in grunts of displeasure, of “Bel (not) me want to go.”
- 2005, Michael Chapman & Matthew Chapman, Teen Girl Squad Issue 10 (cartoon), part of Homestar Runner - Strong Bad: Me gotta see that again.
[edit] Usage notes
Me is traditionally described as the accusative pronoun, meaning it should be used as the object of verbs and prepositions, while the nominative pronoun I should be used as the subject of verbs. However, “accusative” pronouns are widely used as the subject of verbs in colloquial speech if they are accompanied by and: Me and her are friends. This usage is considered incorrect by some prescriptivists.
Some prescriptivists object to the use of me following the verb to be, as in “It wasn’t me.”, considering “It was not I.” to be correct.
Although the genitive use (marking ownership) is commonly used in speech in some dialects, speakers of these dialects usually use my in writing.
Using me as the lone subject (without and) of a verb is a feature of various types pidgin English, and is sometimes used by speakers of standard English for jocular effect. See me likee, me wantee.
[edit] Synonyms
- (subject of a verb): I
- (reflexive object): myself
- (complement of the copula): I
- (indirect object): us (Australia, UK)
- (marking ownership): my; mine (archaic)
[edit] Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
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[edit] References
- A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ISBN 1904794165
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
[edit] Albanian
[edit] Preposition
me
[edit] Croatian
[edit] Pronoun
me
[edit] Declension
[edit] Dutch
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Pronoun
me (personal)
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Estonian
[edit] Etymology
Short form of meie.
[edit] Pronoun
me
[edit] Finnish
[edit] Etymology
From the same Proto-Uralic *me as the Hungarian personal pronoun mi.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Pronoun
me (personal, plural, stem mei-)
[edit] Inflection
- Irregular. The comitative and instructive forms don't exist; the abessive is hardly used.
- In addition to the standard set of cases, me and the other personal pronouns have a specific accusative form, meidät.
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Declension of me
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[edit] Usage notes
- Although usually omitted in written language (the verb shows both the person and the number), the pronoun is in spoken language practically always used. (cf. the usage of minä (“‘I’”))
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] See also
[edit] French
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Pronoun
me (personal, objective case)
[edit] Galician
[edit] Etymology
From Latin mihi, dative singular form of ego, and from mē, accusative singular form of ego.
[edit] Pronoun
me accusative and dative (nominative eu, oblique min)
- (to) me (dative singular first-person personal pronoun)
- me (accusative singular first-person personal pronoun)
- myself (reflexive singular first-person personal pronoun)
[edit] See also
[edit] Guaraní
[edit] Noun
me
[edit] Ido
[edit] Pronoun
me (personal)
[edit] Italian
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Pronoun
me (personal, objective case)
- to me
[edit] Japanese
[edit] Noun
me (hiragana め)
[edit] Kurdish
[edit] Pronoun
me
- we (the speaker/writer and at least one other person)
This Kurdish entry was created from the translations listed at we. It may be less reliable than other entries, and may be missing parts of speech or additional senses. Please also see me in the Kurdish Wiktionary. This notice will be removed when the entry is checked. (more information) April 2008
[edit] Latin
[edit] Pronoun
mē (personal pronoun)
[edit] Lingua Franca Nova
[edit] Pronoun
me
[edit] Lojban
[edit] Particle
me
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Mandarin
[edit] Pinyin syllable
- A transliteration of any of a number of Chinese characters properly represented as having the tone, mé.
- 么: interrogative particle; repetition of a tune small; tender
- 嚈:
- 沚: islet in stream; small sandbar
- 麼, 麽: interrogative final particle; insignificant, small, tiny
[edit] Usage notes
English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
[edit] Nauruan
[edit] Conjunction
me
[edit] Old English
[edit] Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *mik-, from Proto-Indo-European *me. Cognate with Old Frisian mi, Old Saxon mī (Dutch mij), Old High German mih (German mich), Old Norse mik, Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺. The IE root is also the source of Latin me, Greek με, Old Irish mé (Irish mí, Welsh mi), Proto-Slavic *me- (Old Church Slavonic мене, Russian меня), Lithuanian mi, Albanian mua.
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /me:/
[edit] Pronoun
mē (personal pronoun)
[edit] Portuguese
| Portuguese personal pronouns (edit) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Person | Subject | Accusative case (direct object) |
Dative case (indirect object) |
| Singular | First | eu | me | mim |
| Second | tu | te | ti | |
| Third | ele, ela | lhe, o, a, se | ele, ela, si | |
| Plural | First | nós | nos | nós |
| Second | vós | vos | vós | |
| Third | eles, elas | lhes, os, as, se | eles, elas, si | |
[edit] Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: me
[edit] Pronoun
me (personal pronoun)
[edit] Romani
[edit] Pronoun
me (personal)
[edit] Slovene
[edit] Pronoun
me f. (personal)
[edit] Spanish
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Pronoun
me (objective case)
[edit] Vietnamese
[edit] Noun
me