How can I teach the difference
between
Who did it? — It`s me.
and
Who did it? — I did it.
I have had a lot of problems teaching
it in practice.
Valentina
Posted 24 February 2003
Some possible responses to "Who did it?" would be:
(a) I did.
(b) I did it.
(c) Me.
Sentence (a) is a common answer, perhaps a little more frequent than
(b). Both (a) and (b) would pass the prescriptive grammarian's standards,
since the subject pronoun "I" appears correctly.
Sentence (c) — or rather, answer (c) — is also heard, and would
be considered informal.
The sentence It was me (with the verb "was", not "is," in
response to the past tense question with "did,") is often
heard, but it would not be the most logical response to the question "Who
did it?" This question with "Who" is looking for a subject
stated first in the answer — as in (a), (b), and (c) above
— not delayed by "it," that is, not coming after "it."
"It's me" is a frequent response to "Who is it?" or "Who's
there," when "it" serves to identify. The supercorrect "It
is I" exists, but stylistically it sounds just too formal for
most of us (even grammar lovers) to say.