Thread: It was I... vs It was me.. , etc.

Originally Posted by alexsms

I do not 100% understand the pattern, if it exists.. I hope the native speakers of English could kindly elaborate on how to use this structure... The examples are:

1. It was me (or I?) who opened the file. - Именно я открыл файл.
2. It was he (or him?) who opened the file - Именно он открыл файл.
3. It is me (or I?) who opened the file - must translate the same: Именно я открыл файл.
4. It is he (or him?) who opened the file - must translate the same: Именно он открыл файл.
(is it OK to use 'is' in 3 and 4???)

5. It is me (or I?) who thinks about it all the time. - Does this structure make sense at all???

(if you are interested, we could discuss it via email or PM).. thanks, folks!

I think put succinctly:

I = я
Me = меня

He = он
Him = его

She = она
Her = ее

Тhey = они
Them = их

That is to say:

Me, Him, Her, Them = винительный падеж. Кого?
I, he, she, they = именительный падеж. Кто?

Of course, this does not encompass all grammatical properties and usage of these words, but it is fairly steadfast when one of these cases in English would be called for.

Usage in the structure you provided should conform to the pronoun you would use in Russian. Deborski may be on to something with what may be confusing you, though. Many American speakers will use the grammatically incorrect pronoun in certain circumstances. One of the most common examples would be during a telephone call:

Caller: "Is Jack/Jane there?"
Answering person: "This is him/her."


In this context the grammatically correct thing to say would be "This is he/she." This doesn't stop us pesky Americans from defiling the language in informal speech and using 'him/her' though.