Is the signature of a letter a subject or an object?

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP





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up vote
16
down vote

favorite
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I want to sign a letter jokingly not by name, but by a personal pronoun. Is the signature a subject or an object? I feel like using object pronoun (me) sounds better, but why? The signature looks more like a subject to me.



Example:




Best regards,

I




or




Best regards,

me




And for more people signing the letter, following the rules from Which is correct, "you and I" or "you and me"?:




Looking forward to your answer,

John and I




or




Looking forward to your answer,

John and me




ADDED:



Based on the @wjandrea's comment under Peter Shors's answer, can the ellipsis




(This is) me (signing that letter)




be used as an explanation why the default pronoun is the objective case?







share|improve this question


















  • 2




    I love this question! (And the banter under Peter's surgically-precise answer! :) It puts me in mind of the Sparrow replying "I" to Who killed Cock Robin? If that magical talking sparrow were still alive today, he'd either be saying Me or I did (it).
    – FumbleFingers
    Sep 6 at 16:16










  • @FumbleFingers And the Wren would say Us :) Nursery rhymes indeed!
    – Honza Zidek
    Sep 7 at 10:30
















up vote
16
down vote

favorite
3












I want to sign a letter jokingly not by name, but by a personal pronoun. Is the signature a subject or an object? I feel like using object pronoun (me) sounds better, but why? The signature looks more like a subject to me.



Example:




Best regards,

I




or




Best regards,

me




And for more people signing the letter, following the rules from Which is correct, "you and I" or "you and me"?:




Looking forward to your answer,

John and I




or




Looking forward to your answer,

John and me




ADDED:



Based on the @wjandrea's comment under Peter Shors's answer, can the ellipsis




(This is) me (signing that letter)




be used as an explanation why the default pronoun is the objective case?







share|improve this question


















  • 2




    I love this question! (And the banter under Peter's surgically-precise answer! :) It puts me in mind of the Sparrow replying "I" to Who killed Cock Robin? If that magical talking sparrow were still alive today, he'd either be saying Me or I did (it).
    – FumbleFingers
    Sep 6 at 16:16










  • @FumbleFingers And the Wren would say Us :) Nursery rhymes indeed!
    – Honza Zidek
    Sep 7 at 10:30












up vote
16
down vote

favorite
3









up vote
16
down vote

favorite
3






3





I want to sign a letter jokingly not by name, but by a personal pronoun. Is the signature a subject or an object? I feel like using object pronoun (me) sounds better, but why? The signature looks more like a subject to me.



Example:




Best regards,

I




or




Best regards,

me




And for more people signing the letter, following the rules from Which is correct, "you and I" or "you and me"?:




Looking forward to your answer,

John and I




or




Looking forward to your answer,

John and me




ADDED:



Based on the @wjandrea's comment under Peter Shors's answer, can the ellipsis




(This is) me (signing that letter)




be used as an explanation why the default pronoun is the objective case?







share|improve this question














I want to sign a letter jokingly not by name, but by a personal pronoun. Is the signature a subject or an object? I feel like using object pronoun (me) sounds better, but why? The signature looks more like a subject to me.



Example:




Best regards,

I




or




Best regards,

me




And for more people signing the letter, following the rules from Which is correct, "you and I" or "you and me"?:




Looking forward to your answer,

John and I




or




Looking forward to your answer,

John and me




ADDED:



Based on the @wjandrea's comment under Peter Shors's answer, can the ellipsis




(This is) me (signing that letter)




be used as an explanation why the default pronoun is the objective case?









share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Sep 7 at 10:29

























asked Sep 6 at 13:07









Honza Zidek

2,33973156




2,33973156







  • 2




    I love this question! (And the banter under Peter's surgically-precise answer! :) It puts me in mind of the Sparrow replying "I" to Who killed Cock Robin? If that magical talking sparrow were still alive today, he'd either be saying Me or I did (it).
    – FumbleFingers
    Sep 6 at 16:16










  • @FumbleFingers And the Wren would say Us :) Nursery rhymes indeed!
    – Honza Zidek
    Sep 7 at 10:30












  • 2




    I love this question! (And the banter under Peter's surgically-precise answer! :) It puts me in mind of the Sparrow replying "I" to Who killed Cock Robin? If that magical talking sparrow were still alive today, he'd either be saying Me or I did (it).
    – FumbleFingers
    Sep 6 at 16:16










  • @FumbleFingers And the Wren would say Us :) Nursery rhymes indeed!
    – Honza Zidek
    Sep 7 at 10:30







2




2




I love this question! (And the banter under Peter's surgically-precise answer! :) It puts me in mind of the Sparrow replying "I" to Who killed Cock Robin? If that magical talking sparrow were still alive today, he'd either be saying Me or I did (it).
– FumbleFingers
Sep 6 at 16:16




I love this question! (And the banter under Peter's surgically-precise answer! :) It puts me in mind of the Sparrow replying "I" to Who killed Cock Robin? If that magical talking sparrow were still alive today, he'd either be saying Me or I did (it).
– FumbleFingers
Sep 6 at 16:16












@FumbleFingers And the Wren would say Us :) Nursery rhymes indeed!
– Honza Zidek
Sep 7 at 10:30




@FumbleFingers And the Wren would say Us :) Nursery rhymes indeed!
– Honza Zidek
Sep 7 at 10:30










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
22
down vote



accepted










The default pronoun to use in English is the objective case. See this EL&U.SE answer. For example, if you were to label a picture, you would label it "me at the beach in 2011" and not "I at the beach in 2011".



The signature is neither a subject nor an object, as it is not part of a sentence. Thus, the correct pronoun is "me".






share|improve this answer
















  • 2




    @MarkHubbard I would write "John and me at the beach". Movie titles: "The Prince and Me", "Mia and Me", "Marley & Me". But I guess there's "The King and I" to balance those.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:30







  • 5




    The rule in modern spoken American English is that the nominative pronoun is used only when it's in a sentence and it's the subject and it's immediately in front of its verb. Otherwise one uses me as the default. This explains me and Bill went. Regularizing it (already normal in many lects) explains me and him went. The English nominative case is on its way to join the dative in that big paradigm in the sky.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:32







  • 6




    @JohnLawler: Me don't think the nominative case is in any danger in sentences with a single pronoun as the subject.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:42







  • 12




    @PeterShor: Me neither.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:42






  • 3




    Methinks and meseems used to but have dative subjects and third person singular inflection, and used to mean the same thing. Then think became a verb with an experiencer subject and object complement, and seem became one with a subject complement (and requiring either Raising or Extraposition).
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 18:58

















up vote
7
down vote













I don't think signing a letter with a personal pronoun fits into the conventional format of a letter. As such, I don't think this question is really answerable. You can do whatever you want; you're already breaking the rules of letter-writing.



Some old-fashioned closings for letters made use of a copulative verb before the signature. E.g. see the following "Formal addresses and closings" from this web page:




To the Pope:
Formal Closing:
On my knees before Your Holiness, protesting my filial dedication and
imploring the favor of an apostolic blessing, I have the honor to be,
The humble and obedient Servant of Your Holiness, (Signature) To a



To a person of high station or stature:
Closing: I ask Your Excellency (Your Honor) to accept my profound
respect. I remain Your humble and obedient servant, Or, I have the
honor to remain, Yours faithfully, (Signature)




In a sentence like this this, it seems that the supposedly "correct" pronoun would be reflexive, e.g. "I am myself" or "I remain myself".






share|improve this answer
















  • 2




    OP wrote "I want to sign a letter jokingly..." thus not in a conventional manner.
    – IconDaemon
    Sep 6 at 17:12










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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
22
down vote



accepted










The default pronoun to use in English is the objective case. See this EL&U.SE answer. For example, if you were to label a picture, you would label it "me at the beach in 2011" and not "I at the beach in 2011".



The signature is neither a subject nor an object, as it is not part of a sentence. Thus, the correct pronoun is "me".






share|improve this answer
















  • 2




    @MarkHubbard I would write "John and me at the beach". Movie titles: "The Prince and Me", "Mia and Me", "Marley & Me". But I guess there's "The King and I" to balance those.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:30







  • 5




    The rule in modern spoken American English is that the nominative pronoun is used only when it's in a sentence and it's the subject and it's immediately in front of its verb. Otherwise one uses me as the default. This explains me and Bill went. Regularizing it (already normal in many lects) explains me and him went. The English nominative case is on its way to join the dative in that big paradigm in the sky.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:32







  • 6




    @JohnLawler: Me don't think the nominative case is in any danger in sentences with a single pronoun as the subject.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:42







  • 12




    @PeterShor: Me neither.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:42






  • 3




    Methinks and meseems used to but have dative subjects and third person singular inflection, and used to mean the same thing. Then think became a verb with an experiencer subject and object complement, and seem became one with a subject complement (and requiring either Raising or Extraposition).
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 18:58














up vote
22
down vote



accepted










The default pronoun to use in English is the objective case. See this EL&U.SE answer. For example, if you were to label a picture, you would label it "me at the beach in 2011" and not "I at the beach in 2011".



The signature is neither a subject nor an object, as it is not part of a sentence. Thus, the correct pronoun is "me".






share|improve this answer
















  • 2




    @MarkHubbard I would write "John and me at the beach". Movie titles: "The Prince and Me", "Mia and Me", "Marley & Me". But I guess there's "The King and I" to balance those.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:30







  • 5




    The rule in modern spoken American English is that the nominative pronoun is used only when it's in a sentence and it's the subject and it's immediately in front of its verb. Otherwise one uses me as the default. This explains me and Bill went. Regularizing it (already normal in many lects) explains me and him went. The English nominative case is on its way to join the dative in that big paradigm in the sky.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:32







  • 6




    @JohnLawler: Me don't think the nominative case is in any danger in sentences with a single pronoun as the subject.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:42







  • 12




    @PeterShor: Me neither.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:42






  • 3




    Methinks and meseems used to but have dative subjects and third person singular inflection, and used to mean the same thing. Then think became a verb with an experiencer subject and object complement, and seem became one with a subject complement (and requiring either Raising or Extraposition).
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 18:58












up vote
22
down vote



accepted







up vote
22
down vote



accepted






The default pronoun to use in English is the objective case. See this EL&U.SE answer. For example, if you were to label a picture, you would label it "me at the beach in 2011" and not "I at the beach in 2011".



The signature is neither a subject nor an object, as it is not part of a sentence. Thus, the correct pronoun is "me".






share|improve this answer












The default pronoun to use in English is the objective case. See this EL&U.SE answer. For example, if you were to label a picture, you would label it "me at the beach in 2011" and not "I at the beach in 2011".



The signature is neither a subject nor an object, as it is not part of a sentence. Thus, the correct pronoun is "me".







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Sep 6 at 14:22









Peter Shor

58.5k5109208




58.5k5109208







  • 2




    @MarkHubbard I would write "John and me at the beach". Movie titles: "The Prince and Me", "Mia and Me", "Marley & Me". But I guess there's "The King and I" to balance those.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:30







  • 5




    The rule in modern spoken American English is that the nominative pronoun is used only when it's in a sentence and it's the subject and it's immediately in front of its verb. Otherwise one uses me as the default. This explains me and Bill went. Regularizing it (already normal in many lects) explains me and him went. The English nominative case is on its way to join the dative in that big paradigm in the sky.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:32







  • 6




    @JohnLawler: Me don't think the nominative case is in any danger in sentences with a single pronoun as the subject.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:42







  • 12




    @PeterShor: Me neither.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:42






  • 3




    Methinks and meseems used to but have dative subjects and third person singular inflection, and used to mean the same thing. Then think became a verb with an experiencer subject and object complement, and seem became one with a subject complement (and requiring either Raising or Extraposition).
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 18:58












  • 2




    @MarkHubbard I would write "John and me at the beach". Movie titles: "The Prince and Me", "Mia and Me", "Marley & Me". But I guess there's "The King and I" to balance those.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:30







  • 5




    The rule in modern spoken American English is that the nominative pronoun is used only when it's in a sentence and it's the subject and it's immediately in front of its verb. Otherwise one uses me as the default. This explains me and Bill went. Regularizing it (already normal in many lects) explains me and him went. The English nominative case is on its way to join the dative in that big paradigm in the sky.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:32







  • 6




    @JohnLawler: Me don't think the nominative case is in any danger in sentences with a single pronoun as the subject.
    – Peter Shor
    Sep 6 at 14:42







  • 12




    @PeterShor: Me neither.
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 14:42






  • 3




    Methinks and meseems used to but have dative subjects and third person singular inflection, and used to mean the same thing. Then think became a verb with an experiencer subject and object complement, and seem became one with a subject complement (and requiring either Raising or Extraposition).
    – John Lawler
    Sep 6 at 18:58







2




2




@MarkHubbard I would write "John and me at the beach". Movie titles: "The Prince and Me", "Mia and Me", "Marley & Me". But I guess there's "The King and I" to balance those.
– Peter Shor
Sep 6 at 14:30





@MarkHubbard I would write "John and me at the beach". Movie titles: "The Prince and Me", "Mia and Me", "Marley & Me". But I guess there's "The King and I" to balance those.
– Peter Shor
Sep 6 at 14:30





5




5




The rule in modern spoken American English is that the nominative pronoun is used only when it's in a sentence and it's the subject and it's immediately in front of its verb. Otherwise one uses me as the default. This explains me and Bill went. Regularizing it (already normal in many lects) explains me and him went. The English nominative case is on its way to join the dative in that big paradigm in the sky.
– John Lawler
Sep 6 at 14:32





The rule in modern spoken American English is that the nominative pronoun is used only when it's in a sentence and it's the subject and it's immediately in front of its verb. Otherwise one uses me as the default. This explains me and Bill went. Regularizing it (already normal in many lects) explains me and him went. The English nominative case is on its way to join the dative in that big paradigm in the sky.
– John Lawler
Sep 6 at 14:32





6




6




@JohnLawler: Me don't think the nominative case is in any danger in sentences with a single pronoun as the subject.
– Peter Shor
Sep 6 at 14:42





@JohnLawler: Me don't think the nominative case is in any danger in sentences with a single pronoun as the subject.
– Peter Shor
Sep 6 at 14:42





12




12




@PeterShor: Me neither.
– John Lawler
Sep 6 at 14:42




@PeterShor: Me neither.
– John Lawler
Sep 6 at 14:42




3




3




Methinks and meseems used to but have dative subjects and third person singular inflection, and used to mean the same thing. Then think became a verb with an experiencer subject and object complement, and seem became one with a subject complement (and requiring either Raising or Extraposition).
– John Lawler
Sep 6 at 18:58




Methinks and meseems used to but have dative subjects and third person singular inflection, and used to mean the same thing. Then think became a verb with an experiencer subject and object complement, and seem became one with a subject complement (and requiring either Raising or Extraposition).
– John Lawler
Sep 6 at 18:58












up vote
7
down vote













I don't think signing a letter with a personal pronoun fits into the conventional format of a letter. As such, I don't think this question is really answerable. You can do whatever you want; you're already breaking the rules of letter-writing.



Some old-fashioned closings for letters made use of a copulative verb before the signature. E.g. see the following "Formal addresses and closings" from this web page:




To the Pope:
Formal Closing:
On my knees before Your Holiness, protesting my filial dedication and
imploring the favor of an apostolic blessing, I have the honor to be,
The humble and obedient Servant of Your Holiness, (Signature) To a



To a person of high station or stature:
Closing: I ask Your Excellency (Your Honor) to accept my profound
respect. I remain Your humble and obedient servant, Or, I have the
honor to remain, Yours faithfully, (Signature)




In a sentence like this this, it seems that the supposedly "correct" pronoun would be reflexive, e.g. "I am myself" or "I remain myself".






share|improve this answer
















  • 2




    OP wrote "I want to sign a letter jokingly..." thus not in a conventional manner.
    – IconDaemon
    Sep 6 at 17:12














up vote
7
down vote













I don't think signing a letter with a personal pronoun fits into the conventional format of a letter. As such, I don't think this question is really answerable. You can do whatever you want; you're already breaking the rules of letter-writing.



Some old-fashioned closings for letters made use of a copulative verb before the signature. E.g. see the following "Formal addresses and closings" from this web page:




To the Pope:
Formal Closing:
On my knees before Your Holiness, protesting my filial dedication and
imploring the favor of an apostolic blessing, I have the honor to be,
The humble and obedient Servant of Your Holiness, (Signature) To a



To a person of high station or stature:
Closing: I ask Your Excellency (Your Honor) to accept my profound
respect. I remain Your humble and obedient servant, Or, I have the
honor to remain, Yours faithfully, (Signature)




In a sentence like this this, it seems that the supposedly "correct" pronoun would be reflexive, e.g. "I am myself" or "I remain myself".






share|improve this answer
















  • 2




    OP wrote "I want to sign a letter jokingly..." thus not in a conventional manner.
    – IconDaemon
    Sep 6 at 17:12












up vote
7
down vote










up vote
7
down vote









I don't think signing a letter with a personal pronoun fits into the conventional format of a letter. As such, I don't think this question is really answerable. You can do whatever you want; you're already breaking the rules of letter-writing.



Some old-fashioned closings for letters made use of a copulative verb before the signature. E.g. see the following "Formal addresses and closings" from this web page:




To the Pope:
Formal Closing:
On my knees before Your Holiness, protesting my filial dedication and
imploring the favor of an apostolic blessing, I have the honor to be,
The humble and obedient Servant of Your Holiness, (Signature) To a



To a person of high station or stature:
Closing: I ask Your Excellency (Your Honor) to accept my profound
respect. I remain Your humble and obedient servant, Or, I have the
honor to remain, Yours faithfully, (Signature)




In a sentence like this this, it seems that the supposedly "correct" pronoun would be reflexive, e.g. "I am myself" or "I remain myself".






share|improve this answer












I don't think signing a letter with a personal pronoun fits into the conventional format of a letter. As such, I don't think this question is really answerable. You can do whatever you want; you're already breaking the rules of letter-writing.



Some old-fashioned closings for letters made use of a copulative verb before the signature. E.g. see the following "Formal addresses and closings" from this web page:




To the Pope:
Formal Closing:
On my knees before Your Holiness, protesting my filial dedication and
imploring the favor of an apostolic blessing, I have the honor to be,
The humble and obedient Servant of Your Holiness, (Signature) To a



To a person of high station or stature:
Closing: I ask Your Excellency (Your Honor) to accept my profound
respect. I remain Your humble and obedient servant, Or, I have the
honor to remain, Yours faithfully, (Signature)




In a sentence like this this, it seems that the supposedly "correct" pronoun would be reflexive, e.g. "I am myself" or "I remain myself".







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Sep 6 at 17:08









sumelic

42.5k6102200




42.5k6102200







  • 2




    OP wrote "I want to sign a letter jokingly..." thus not in a conventional manner.
    – IconDaemon
    Sep 6 at 17:12












  • 2




    OP wrote "I want to sign a letter jokingly..." thus not in a conventional manner.
    – IconDaemon
    Sep 6 at 17:12







2




2




OP wrote "I want to sign a letter jokingly..." thus not in a conventional manner.
– IconDaemon
Sep 6 at 17:12




OP wrote "I want to sign a letter jokingly..." thus not in a conventional manner.
– IconDaemon
Sep 6 at 17:12

















 

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