"I" or "Me" After "Be"

In speech, "me" is the most common. Some people do not like to see "me" in writing.

Me is a perfectly good word. Some people hypercorrect and use "I" because they somehow think it's too informal for business writing. Whether to use "me" or "I" depends on whether it's the subject or the object, NOT whether it's in formal or informal writing.

Often, as you were told, the "correct" usage with "to be" is nominative, or I. "It is I" is correct - but almost never used. (Howev

Here's what some grammar books want you to say.

It is I.
It was I.
It has been I.
It will be I.
It will be John and I.
The selected person is I.
The selected person will be I.
The person selected will be I.
The persons selected will be John and I.

Here's what we actually say, most of the time. This form is also accepted by man

CJ, I almost never question anything you say, but "The persons selected will be...X" - does X not require the objective case?

I agree with CalifJim.

The following might be too advanced for this forum. Please feel free to ignore it.

The prescriptive rule is to always use "I, he, she" etc after "be". The argument is that "be" is a copula and the copula requires the nominative case. This is how it is done in Latin.

While some people do use "I, he, she" in some cases, it is always acceptable to u

Yes, I'm onboard with the "It is I" and "This is she." But when you have a transitive verb like selected (or smiled at, or pounced on... or anything like that) - you still use the nominative?

The first person the baby will smile at will be I? The person the cat always pounces on is I?

I agree that "It is I" is falling into disuse, but I still recognize it as grammatical. The sen

The first person the baby will smile at will be I? The person the cat always pounces on is I?

Yes, these sentences are silly. The prescription to always use "I" after "be" is silly. (imagine a smiley here)

I'd be inclined to tell a learner to always use "me", since it is always acceptable.

CalifJimHere's what some grammar books want you to say.

The person selected will be I.
The persons selected will be John and I.

But CJ (who, like I said, I consider to be an absolute authority on these things, so when my understanding is different from his, I almost alwasy assume he's right) says

The person selected will be I

CJ said "Here's what some grammar books want you to say." That's not the same as "grammatically correct".

You can use "I" after "be" in some cases, and not in others. Some grammar books have a rule that you always have to use "I" after "be". Such a rule is clearly at odds with usage, and therefore wrong. imo

AlienvoordCJ said "Here's what some grammar books want you to say." That's not the same as "grammatically correct".

Good point. I feel relieved now.