The Object of the Preposition, Moi?

It is a funny thing, this language of ours.  We can stress the correct use of hopefully; we can applaud a well placed comprise; and we can stand up and cheer when lie and lay are conquered.  Then, in a heartbeat, the utterer who had just achieved victory goes on to shatter any vestige of grammatical respect by using the wrong preposition in a prepositional phrase.

What do I mean?

Here’s a quick quiz for you.  Which of the following is correct:

A)  Melinda gave the truffles to Hank and I.

B)  Melinda gave the truffles to Hank and me.

It amazes me  how many people choose (A) as the correct form, while really the correct form is (B).

I’m not going to “Grammar Police” this thing to death, though this may be the thing that grates on me more than anything else.  The phrase “to Hank and X” is a prepositional phrase.  A prepositional phrase requires an object.  The object form of the personal pronoun is “me” and not “I.”

It’s as simple as that.

Just as you would not say, “He gave the truffles to I,” you would not say, “He gave the truffles to Hank and I.”

You should say, “He gave the truffles to me,” just as you should say, “He gave the truffles to Hank and me.”

When “Hank and X” is the subject, you can use “Hank and I.”  Hank and I went to the zoo.

When “Hank and X” is the object, you use “Hank and me.”  John took Hank and me to the zoo.

Get it?

Got it.

Good.