How to write photo captions. The real difference between ‘immigrate’ and ‘emigrate.’ Ko Pha-ngan'd

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1071. Is it "Taylor and I" or "Taylor and me"? We explain why photo captions follow their own grammar rules. Then, we explore the subtle difference between "immigrate" and "emigrate," how the terms are used historically, and why their meanings often depend on perspective.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Grammar Girl here. I'm Minion Fogarty, your friendly guide to the English language. Today we're
0:10.8	going to talk about writing photo captions and whether you really know the difference between the words
0:16.4	immigrate and emigrate. This question comes from a listener. Linda said, I'd like to see tips that
0:23.4	address correct pronoun usage in social media captions. For example, if I caption a photo on a social
0:30.0	media platform, I might type in Taylor Swift and me. Many people, however, would type in Taylor Swift and I. I use me under the assumption
0:40.5	that the unwritten words preceding the caption would be, this is a photo of, Taylor Swift and me.
0:48.0	Well, you're right, Linda. Choosing between me and I in photo captions is trickier than it seems.
0:55.0	As you've noticed, a lot of people might default to writing Taylor Swift and I, but Taylor Swift and me is actually correct.
1:03.0	The key to solving this grammar puzzle lies in understanding how subjects and objects work in English sentences.
1:13.0	Think of subjects as the star performers in your sentence. They're the ones doing the action. Objects, on the other hand,
1:20.3	are on the receiving end of the action, or they come after prepositions like of, two, or with.
1:27.3	When we use pronouns like I and me, we're making a
1:31.1	choice based on whether we need a subject or an object. I is what we call a subject pronoun. It's for
1:38.7	when we're the one doing something. Me is an object pronoun. We use it when we're receiving the action or following
1:47.1	a preposition. So let's take a look at some examples. I took a photo with Taylor Swift. In the
1:54.7	sentence, I is doing the taking. Taylor Swift took a photo with me. Me comes after the preposition with. This is a photo of
2:05.7	Taylor Swift and me. Me follows the preposition of. Now, here's where Linda's insight about
2:12.3	photo captions comes in. When we write a caption like Taylor Swift and me, we're actually creating a shortened
2:19.1	version of a complete thought.
2:21.3	This is a photo of Taylor Swift and me.
2:24.4	Those unstated words at the beginning, this is a photo of, are important because they
2:29.4	contain the preposition of.
	...

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