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Would it be proper to say "Here is a picture of my cousins and I". Is it improper to say me instead of I?

Jason O
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    I'd never use 'I' here. The preposition 'of' takes the accusative case, no matter how many elements there are in the prepositional object. There is a move towards the use of 'of/from X and I', but it's a hypercorrection. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 03 '14 at 00:03
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    IF you're a native speaker of English, it should sound wrong to you. If you've been told otherwise, distrust grammar advice from that person from now on; either they're putting you on or they're very confused about English grammar. – John Lawler Oct 03 '14 at 00:07
  • The use of "me" in this context pre-supposes the importance of the self. "I" is much preferred since it puts the weight of the sentence on the other, in this case your cousins. Perhaps this question might be better answered on http://philosophy.stackexchange.com – Hannah Vernon Oct 03 '14 at 03:18

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Simple practical rule of thumb: Drop the other subject for a moment. Which sounds right: "Here is a picture of I", or "Here is a picture of me"?

The same answer applies when the other subject is added back in.

(For comparison, consider "My friends and I went to the beach.")

keshlam
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  • There might well be people who consider Here is a picture of I to be correct. The "which sounds right rule/trick" does not always help learners of English. – Mari-Lou A Oct 03 '14 at 04:58
  • Granted, @Mari-LouA. But it's a way to simplify the problem into a more general one. – keshlam Oct 03 '14 at 13:18