I or me, better of best, hyphens

[dancer]

Is it correct to say "in front of dad and I" or "in front of dad and me?"

Is it between us, between you and me or between you and I?

Please tell me the rule.

Is it, "It was best to just walk away" or "It was better to just walk away"?

Please tell me the rule.

Is it white satin robe or white-satin robe?

Is it blue-black, if your saying it by itself, i.e. "His hair was blue-black."? If it's used as an adjective, is it blue-black hair? Is there a hyphen in each case?

Thank you for your help.

[Ali]

Hi Dancer,


Is it correct to say "in front of dad and I" or "in front of dad and me?"

Is it between us, between you and me or between you and I?

The correct versions are:
"In front of dad and me."
"Between you and me."

The easiest way to figure out which is right is to remove the person who isn't you from the sentence. Eg:
"In front of I" is clearly wrong
"In front of me" is right

You could write "between me" (eg. "Don't come between me and the kitchen table") but not "between I".



Is it, "It was best to just walk away" or "It was better to just walk away"?

This depends how many options you're considering. If walking away is one of two options, use "better" (or if you're saying it's better than one of the options, but not as good as a third). If walking away is the TOP option of three or more, use "best".


Is it white satin robe or white-satin robe?

Is it blue-black, if your saying it by itself, i.e. "His hair was blue-black."? If it's used as an adjective, is it blue-black hair? Is there a hyphen in each case?

The first is a matter of personal style (or follow the style of the publication which you are writing for.)

The second should be "blue-black", I think, in both cases.

Hope that helps!

Ali

[Maeve]

Dancer,
You might find this article of interest:

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/tvs-war-on-me-and-i/