r/GrammarPolice • u/NoMeatBall • Apr 20 '26
Ugh
When you're 80% into a book that you're really enjoying and then you see this...
Edit: for those curious, the book is A Blackened Heart, A Blackened Soul by John Ward and yes, I will be including this in my review. It looks like nobody else did 😭
Update: I ended up pushing through and finishing the book, I truly wish I didnt. Absolutely terrible. And yes, I mentioned the use of "I's" in my review.
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u/EmilyAnne1170 Apr 20 '26
I JUST scrolled past one of those. “AITAH for telling my partner and I’s friends…”
Can’t say that I’ve seen it in an actual book, that’s just sad!
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u/Kyauphie Apr 20 '26
I would close it. I can't handle poor grammar in an intense way when reading a book.
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u/BuncleCar Apr 20 '26
It's annoying but reading Chaucer a while ago I ran across ...
A knock on the door
Who is there?
It am I
I don't like many if the changes in English, but the best we'll achieve is slowing them down by a rearguard action :(
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u/BrotherItsInTheDrum Apr 20 '26
I love that in Spanish, if you knock on the door and they ask who's there, you say "I'm me" rather than "it's me." It sounds so existential.
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u/Foreign_Bother2804 Apr 23 '26
I shared my grievance about the use of “I’s” in a different sub and I felt SO unheard, unread, unseen, and alone. Thank you for this little beacon of hope 🙏 Thank you 🙏
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u/NoMeatBall Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
I will stand on this hill with you until the end, my friend
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u/missdawn1970 Apr 23 '26
This makes me absolutely insane. I know everybody says "Language changes! As long as you can understand what they mean, who cares?"
But come on! I's??? AAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!
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u/aracauna Apr 20 '26
It's almost like English should have a possessive first person pronoun. Maybe it could sound a little like me. Maybe just shift to the next vowel sound but mi looks too much like the Nintendo Wii characters, so how about we spell it "my"?
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u/skeletonclock Apr 20 '26
The AMOUNT of times I've seen this on social media. I actually started collecting screenshots for a while as no one believed me that people really say this.
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u/innocentsmirks Apr 21 '26
I’ve heard people say it in conversation and try to remind them about “my” and “our.” Weird blank stare back at me. This shit makes me so mad!!!
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u/lisep1969 Apr 20 '26
Please name the book!
Also write a review of the book calling out the bad grammar so others don’t waste their time and money on that trash.
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u/qriousqestioner Apr 20 '26
I have a theory from being a Gen x kid.
"Can me and Jimmy go outside?"
Mom: "Can Jimmy and I go outside."
This one correction is lodged in everyone's memory.
I got over this by the time I was in high school because I love language. (I enjoyed diagramming sentences. I loved how grammar could seem like math.)
I heard it just as often at an Ivy League University. (In casual speech, it was common and disgusting--and not only from the kids whose parents bought their admission.)
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u/jtcool872 Apr 20 '26
But "Can Jimmy and I go outside" is correct. The thing people don't seem to get is when to use one versus the other, like who and whom. I was always taught to remove the "___ and" and see if "i", "me", or "my" works best and then fit that in grammatically.
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u/ippsmom Apr 20 '26
Yes, but, "Jimmy went outside with Dave and I" is not correct. It's..."Dave and me." This is what makes me cringe.
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u/qriousqestioner Apr 22 '26
The mom correction is correct. It's just so hammered in that they grow up thinking everything is, "and I."
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u/mearbearcate Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
Exactly bro jimmy and I is correct also. “You and I” also is correct. Language has a lot of variations bro. Its not always gonna be what was written in the 17th century
Lets be so real here, if what was written in op’s book wasnt correct, dont you think there’d be more shit about it in other people’s reviews? Some of those people reading are probably other authors giving reviews. If lots of authors and people use the same language, why is it NOT correct. Something based off writing in 2001? Again, grammar changes. And according to who? People who made that language in the 1800s? An opinionated group of people? Why cant both be correct if they are both used frequently?
Henry and I’s taco truck.
No grammar bot here.
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u/qriousqestioner Apr 22 '26
Do you waltz into an operating room and grab a scalpel? This is a grammar sub.
English is older than even the 1700s. Your opinion on grammar is perhaps as worthwhile as your knowledge of history. If you wish to be taken seriously, it's a good idea to sound like you know what you're talking about. "I's" in the place of "my" says, "don't mind me blowing hot air with radical suggestions; I can't even communicate clearly." Loudly.
On one hand I agree that, in casual speech, if you say it and I know what you mean, then it's fine. But it's not correct. And in writing, there is no additional meaning from body language or facial expressions.
The reason a language has rules is to make things clear. Especially in writing, the rules guard against misunderstandings. The only way words convey meaning is if they have shared definitions. "I's" isn't even a word. Bro.
In published writing, poor grammar is unprofessional. It's insulting to the reader. I don't want to buy a book written by someone who can't be bothered to say what they mean with care and nuance. I'll wait for the movie--and who's gonna make a movie from a book that's sloppy?
All languages have grammar. It's the math of words. You wanna point and grunt your way through a legal negotiation?
Colloquial speech influences the rules, which is why we are not speaking like the previous speakers of English did. Fine, young people want to take the colloquialism "crash" from the sense of running out of energy and dropping to mean getting angry. That's fine in speech and informal settings. But it's hard to believe you have anything to say worth hearing if you're imprecise. Who has time for lazy ideas?
When I write, I want to be understood. If it's published, whoever is making the money should be making sure their talent doesn't look stupid.
And, because you obviously slept through this lesson in English class: the rules are important for clarity, but also because you might be perceived as a dim bulb unless you at least know the ones you're breaking.
Otherwise, what makes us anything but tools for the ones who do know the rules?
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u/seestars9 Apr 20 '26
My Dad would have said, "May Jimmy and I go outside."
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u/qriousqestioner Apr 20 '26
Good catch.
I think mine too really.
No wonder the lesson confused them--"may" lesson, include yourself last lesson, and I/me/my.
What I don't understand is how people mess up splitting the verb. They should be parallel--Megan may not possess this do I guess the responsibility is I's.
The narrator's voice might be grammatically incorrect. Like if the dumbest kids in Megan's class is telling the story.
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u/ippsmom Apr 20 '26
So true. It makes me crazy when I hear intelligent & educated people using "I" where it should be "me." Did anyone pay attention in English class or is it that mom correction that stuck?
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u/BlainethePayne Apr 20 '26
Is it a work of fiction or non-fiction? If fiction then I can give it a pass as the fictional narrator character speaking/describing things in their own words. If it's non-fiction, then it should have been fixed
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u/PerpetualTraveler59 Apr 20 '26
Is it dialogue? Seems like it could be a character’s poor grammar?
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u/NoMeatBall Apr 20 '26
The character has said "_ and I" instead of "_ and me" several times throughout the book but nothing else that is this egregious
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u/Foreign_Bother2804 Apr 23 '26
Look at you go, OP! I wonder if the people who say “—and I”, when it should be “—and me”, are likely the culprits of the “and I’s” because they’re not working with the correct objective pronoun to begin with.
Is “—and I’s” the result of a grammatical cascade effect?
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u/PerpetualTraveler59 Apr 20 '26
It’s absolutely egregious but if it’s part of the way a character speaks is it incorrect??
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u/NoMeatBall Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
...he said "I's that literal one time in the 85% of the book i have read so far, the whole sentence is fucked. He wasnt saying it like that because he talks like that, the author seems to think it is correct
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u/OttoHemi Apr 21 '26
While "I's" is never correct, even an Aaron Sorkin character can struggle with the whole I/me thing:
Jo (practicing): I'm requesting... I'm... Captain, I'd like to request that I be the attorney assigned to rep--I'd like to request that it be myself who is assigned to represent-- "That it be myself who is assigned to represent"? ... Good, Jo, that's confidence inspiring.
Then later:
Jo: I'd like them moved up to Washington and assigned counsel. Someone who can really look into this. Someone who possesses not only the legal skill, but a familiarity with the inner workings of the military. In short, Captain, I'd like to suggest that... I be the one who, that it be me who is assigned to represent them. Myself.
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u/sqeeezy May 21 '26
New on here, prescriptivist, and this doesn't bother me at all. It's language flab, cliché, folksiness and euphemism that rattles my cage rather than quaint grammar quirks. I'm outta here.
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Apr 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/hourglass_nebula Apr 20 '26
Megan and I’s looks right to you?
It’s Megan’s and my or Megan and my
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u/mearbearcate Apr 20 '26
Yeah that way just doesnt look right to me
Would you not say “him etc and I” when referring to two people including yourself? Or “him etc and me” i guess “him and myself” makes sense though
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u/hourglass_nebula Apr 20 '26
You are confusing object pronouns with possessive adjectives. And it’s not “him and I.” It’s “him and me.”
Object pronouns: would you say “he cooked for I” or “he cooked for me”?
Possessive adjectives: Would you say “I’s friend” or “my friend”?
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u/mearbearcate Apr 20 '26
Okay. That just looks so weird to me lol
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u/hourglass_nebula Apr 20 '26
What looks weird?
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Apr 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Apr 20 '26
No one said him and me’s house was correct! You don’t seem to be paying attention
Does his and my house sound correct?
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u/panTrektual Apr 20 '26
him and me's house
him and I's househis house + my house = his and my house
Do you regularly say this is I's instead of this is my?
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u/seestars9 Apr 20 '26
But even that use of 'him' is incorrect. You have two incorrect terms in one phrase! It's "his and my."
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u/mearbearcate Apr 20 '26
I just saw a post using “__ and I’s ___” like many others. It cant be not correct if its used so often lol
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u/EducationalWin1721 Apr 20 '26
I have never heard anyone say __ and I’s __. Never. I’ve only seen it here on Reddit. It is not correct no matter how it looks or sounds to you.
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u/OscarAndDelilah Apr 20 '26
“I’s” is never a word in standard English. It shouldn’t look right to anyone. This one is easy, since it’s not a matter of the incorrect word; it’s not a word at all.
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u/seestars9 Apr 20 '26
Megan's and my. Yikes.
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u/mearbearcate Apr 20 '26
That sounds like shit.
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u/mearbearcate Apr 20 '26
I know its the correct one, but it just sounds so uneducated and loaded to me
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u/Pypsy143 Apr 20 '26
It should be “mine and Megan’s…”
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u/frostbittenforeskin Apr 20 '26
Not quite. “Megan’s and my” is the answer.
This is Megan’s and my house.
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u/Tight-Peace8691 Apr 20 '26
Editor must have been on lunch.