Is it harry and you or harry and myself?

Answer 1

All gramatical usage depends on its context.

In the case of 'Harry and you,' or 'Harry and myself', did you perhaps mean to ask, 'Is it Harry and me (or I) or Harry and myself?'

If this is so, your question might've been automatically changed by a WikiAnswers bot to cut out the terms 'I' or 'me' or 'my', which WikiAnswers' administration believes might lead other users to feel somehow excluded. This frequently happens. Someone asked a question about King Charles the First, writing 'Charles I': WikiAnswers changed it to 'Charles you', so that it made no sense at all!

If you want to know whether, or when, to use someone else's name (in this case, 'Harry') together with 'I' or 'me' or 'myself', you simply think about how you'd form the sentence without 'Harry' in it.

You might want to say, '(This music appeals to) me,' or 'I (like this music)', or 'I (would like to choose the music) myself.'

Bringing Harry into it, you could say, for example:

'(This music appeals to) Harry and me,' or 'Harry and I (like this music),', or 'Harry and I (would like to choose the music) ourselves.'

or, if you want to know about 'Harry and you':

'(Does this music appeal to) Harry and you?' or 'Do you and Harry (like this music)?'

'Myself' is frequently used unnecessarily to avoid using 'I', simply because some people have been taught that the use of 'I' indicates egoism, or sounds self-centred. Some people even believe one shouldn't begin a sentence with the word 'I'. This is nonsense.

Substituting 'myself' for 'I' is correct and effective when used reflexively: 'I will choose the music myself,' or 'I tripped and injured myself,' or for emphasis: 'If you won't do it, I'll just do it myself!', but to say 'Harry and myself enjoyed the concert,' or 'Jo gave tickets to Harry and myself,' is a bit clumsy when you could as easily say, 'Harry and I enjoyed the concert,' or 'Jo gave tickets to Harry and me,'.

When in doubt about the use of 'I' or 'me' in a sentence with 'and', try cutting out the 'and' part of the sentence - in this case, 'and Harry' or 'Harry and'.

Then you'll have:

'This music appeals to me,' or

'I like this music,'

You can see straight away where 'Harry and', or 'and Harry' will fit in.

Sometimes, when you're not certain, you can try saying the sentence out loud. If it feels comfortable when you say it, you've quite likely got it right.