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Which of the two is more correct, when one wants to make sure whether he/she is a subject of the statement (ex. the sentence is addressed at two people, and one of those two people wants to make sure, whether the sentence is addressed at him/her).

You have beautiful eyes.

Me?

or

You have beautiful eyes.

I?

Community
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Kuba Wyrostek
  • 111
  • @EdwinAshworth You have the wrong dupe. “Who, me?” Yes, you. – tchrist Aug 18 '14 at 21:46
  • tchrist Are you saying that the following (by Daniel) doesn't give the answer? <<Arnold Zwicky writing on the Language Log in a post called "Here Comes the Accusative" discusses the use of accusative pronouns ('I' is nominative and 'me' is accusative):

    ...the basic rule for nominative/accusative choice in English is: nominative for subjects of finite clauses, accusative otherwise.>>

     – Edwin Ashworth Aug 19 '14 at 08:08
  • Can you please explain what you mean by 'when one wants to make sure whether he/she is a subject of the statement?'? Do you mean 'when one wants to make sure whether he/she is being spoken to'? 'Subject' has a specific meaning in grammar; here, the subject in both sentences is 'You'. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 19 '14 at 10:06
  • I've updated my question. Hope it's clear now. Btw. I don't quite consider two linked questions as possible direct duplicates... – Kuba Wyrostek Aug 19 '14 at 10:09
  • @EdwinAshworth I agree with Arnold. – tchrist Aug 19 '14 at 13:01
  • @tchrist Hence I've got a correct duplicate (though it should probably be combined with the one you found). – Edwin Ashworth Aug 19 '14 at 20:34

2 Answers2

3

A case can be made for either, but "Me?" is far more common. The reply "I?" feels stilted and artificial.

Jay R.
  • 154
-2

The answer

me?

could plausibly be interpreted as being short for either of

Are you talking to me?
Are you referring to me?

whereas

I?

could plausibly be interpreted as being short for

Do I?

so this seems to be a case where the coin lands on its edge.

Scott - Слава Україні
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