I know that this is a possible duplicate of Is “both” singular? but the question was asked and answered more than 6 years ago and I don’t want to reopen a question of 6 years ago. Also, my doubt is not solved by the answers nor by the proposed links.
So, here we are. Should I say…
- … both me and my brother is male or both me and my brother are male or both I and my brother is male or both I and my brother are male ?
- … both me and my brothers is male or both me and my brothers are male or both I and my brothers is male or both I and my brothers are male ?
I know that this can be an easy question for an English native speaker but it’s not for me.
Remark: The old question was about the use of both of so it’s slightly different from mine. Also, there is an answer to my case (e.g. Both me and my brother are doing our best at school) but I think that in the comments someone suggests that this answer is wrong.
Answer
In colloquial speech, it is common to say, “Me and my brother are …” However, it is technically incorrect as both my brother and I are the subjects of this sentence. It is more grammatically correct to say:
“Both my brother and I are male.”
A good way to catch this common error is to break apart the compound subject and try each one alone in the sentence (with the appropriate verb):
“My brother is male.” CORRECT
“Me am male.” WRONG
“I am male.” CORRECT
As oerkelens suggests, you can use male as an adjective. I also switched the positions of the subjects because it sounds more natural to put oneself at the end of a compound subject.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : gvgramazio , Answer Author : pablopaul
