Is it natural to say "Me, I xyz"?

Question

I tend to put "me" in front of sentences when I'm trying to set them apart from a previously said opinion or view.

Examples:

Me, I like pizza.

Me, I'm cold.

Is it okay to say it like that in a conversation? It was pointed out to me that it's weird and now I'm not sure if I took that from another language (it seems fine to do this in French...).

Edit: I think I could replace it with "As for me, ..."

This is a natural syntactic rule in English called "Left Dislocation". It can also occur with the object -- Him, I can't stand him. And there is a "Right Dislocation" to match: He really likes pizza, him. — John Lawler, Oct 19 '20 at 19:51
They do this a lot more in French than in English (and in fact, it's sometimes grammatically required in French), but we definitely do it in informal English, too. Is it natural? How often do you do it? I think most native English speakers only do it occasionally. — Peter Shor, Oct 19 '20 at 20:01

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 19 '20 at 19:42

1

I've never heard a native English speaker say this unless answering a question ("Who wants lunch?" "Me, I want lunch!"). I think it's fine to do what you do in Spanish too. Using "as for me,..." would work well, but it's unusual and formal (at least in my dialect). In informal speech, I would probably omit the "as" and just say, "For me,...".

answered Oct 19 '20 at 19:42

Reigny625

29

3

That way of speaking is common in a number of UK regional dialects, also 'me' at the end of declarations about oneself - e.g. I'm tired, me. – Michael Harvey Oct 19 '20 at 19:52
I notice the BBC weather presenters like to say "It will be heavy, the rain." – Weather Vane Oct 19 '20 at 19:58
They have to say that a lot at this time of year. – Michael Harvey Oct 19 '20 at 21:33
@WeatherVane I've never noticed any of them do that. Maybe I'll have to listen more carefully. – BoldBen Oct 19 '20 at 23:23
Brit Simon Whistler (host of numerous YouTube channels) does this almost constantly. It’s particularly jarring because it’s not in the script for the captions. – StephenS Nov 19 '20 at 03:09

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 19 '20 at 20:17

This sort of reply is acceptable in the locution "me too" (Me too, I'm cold.) but otherwise it does not appear to be idiomatic. This is not found in print (ngram). "Me I am" yields just one result, the title of a book and this is probably not the expected syntax, a subject/verb inversion being necessary to understand the meaning (I am me).

Replacing "me" by "as for me" in this context will not do. "As for me" is fine in writing after an enumeration that can consist of just one element.

There are various ways to formulate this type of opposition.

1/ • Personally, I like pizza.

2/ • What's making me unconfortable is the cold. (possibly stressed "me")
      • What I can hardly bear is the cold. (possibly stressed "I")
      • Being cold is my problem. (stressed "cold")
      • The cold is my problem. (stressed "cold")

The reference to me too may be misleading, because, in so far as such locutions can be heard, they seem to imply contrast, rather than conformity, with others. — jsw29, Oct 19 '20 at 21:49
How many times must one say it? Ngrams are for written English, not necessarily spoken English. — Lambie, Mar 18 '21 at 22:07

Is it natural to say "Me, I xyz"?

2 Answers2