It is I vs It is me

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Ingeneral,bothitisIandit’smearevalidwaysofintroducing yourself.It’sjustthatitisIismoreformal,andcansoundold fashionedtothemodernear.It’smeismorecasualandrelaxed,and you ’remorelikelytohearitinpresent-dayconversations.

ItisI(formalcontext) Itisme(informalstyle)

WeuseIafterlinkingverbslike is,was,were,whichdescribea stateofbeingratherthanan action.Aftertheseverbs,weuse subjectpronounssuchas“I,” “she,”“he,”“they,”and“we.”

However,ItisIisveryformal andold-fashionedandwould soundpompousoraffectedin speech.That’swhyalmost everyonesays,Itismeandwhy theItisIconstructionisalmost extinct.

ItisIshewishestosee tonight.

PerhapsitisIwhoshouldstay.

IsthisJoe?–ItisI.

Itisme(orit’sme)isconsidered aninformalstyle.Today,most nativeEnglishspeakersuseItis meinsteadofItisI.

Meisanobjectpronounwhich meansthatit’sonthereceivingend oftheactioninasentence.Theuse ofmeinthephraseItismeisn’t typicalusageofthepronoun,since thereisnoactiontoreceive.

It’sme.Canyouopenthedoor? Ihaven’tgotmykey.

“Who'sthere?”“It’sonlyme.”

Hello,it’sme,John.

OTHEREXAMPLES

ThatisIwhenIwasseven.

Thisiswewhenwewerekids.

Thatishe.That’sthemanIsaw.

That’smewhenIwasseven.

Thisisuswhenwewerekids.

That’shim.That’sthemanIsaw.

formal informal

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