Is it correct to say you and me or you and I?

Answer 1

The correct term is 'you and I' - however - informally 'you and me' has also become acceptable.

It does depend on usage. You and I can sound formal, but is clearly wrong in some cases. 'John will bring lunch for you and me' is correct. You would never say 'Please bring my lunch to I', or 'John will bring lunch to I'. He will bring lunch to you; he will bring lunch to me. So, he will bring lunch to you and me. Think how funny the song would be if it went: 'He touched I... he put his hand near mine, and then... he toughed I.' Not.

On the other hand, 'We are a pair, you and I' is correct. You are a singer, I am a singer. We (you and I) are singers.

There is a word for affecting 'formal' language because it sounds correct even though it is wrong, but the word escapes me at the moment. The use of 'whom' is another example.

'Hypercorrection' is the term which describes the use of incorrect grammar or pronunciation in an attempt to sound more clever or classy than we actually believe ourselves to be. A common example of hypercorrection is usage by English-speakers of the French feminine given name, Françoise. The male version, François, is pronounced Fron'swarh; the female version, Françoise, is Fron'swarhze, but many generations of perfectly feminine French ladies have suffered the English referring to them as François in the fond hope of sounding sophisticated.

The popular meat paste, pâté de foie gras (literally ,paste of fat liver, pronounced pate de fwa gra), has led many English speakers to butcher the term coup de grâce, (literally, blow of mercy, describing a mortal blow generally assumed to be dealt by a sword and pronounced coup de gras) so that it becomes coup de gra: literally, blow of fat, a worrying image for sure.

Even our own late, legendary musician and philanthropist, Leonard Bernstein, isn't safe from the wannabe-educated yokels. For decades he's suffered the title 'Bernsteen', despite the poor bloke himself demanding to know why, when we don't refer to Albert Eensteen, must we - to his face, even - wilfully mispronounce his own surname.

Answer 2

It is correct to say "you and I" when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. Use "you and me" when the pronoun is the object of the sentence. Example: "You and I are going to the store" vs. "He is taking you and me to the concert."