Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <grammar>
Title: My friends and I went snowboarding
Question: When I say    My friends and I went snowboarding.   somebody said to me there is a grammar mistake in my sentence but I could not figure out what it is. What is the grammar mistake in the sentence? Should it be    I and my friends went snowboarding.

Answers:
sents: text: That somebody is wrong and does not speak proper English.
text: You are correct on both of your sentences.
text: My friends and I went snowboarding.
text: Is a perfectly valid phrase
text: ( And by FAR the most common).
text: However, you could also say I and my friends went snowboarding.
text: Which is also valid (but in REAL life no one uses this phrasing) .
text: I would use your first choice though as it is more commonplace and is more courteous (as you put your friends before you).
text: Also the first phrase just has more of a ring to it (sounds better).
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/76856/Crettig
score: 32
sents: text: Your sentence is entirely correct.
text: I'm not sure why they thought it was incorrect, but I'll explain why you're correct, and then guess what their mistake may have been.
text: When we use two subjects together, we should be able to use either one by itself.
text: My friends went snowboarding.
text: I went snowboarding.
text: Both of these work fine, so there is no mistake there.
text: Further, it is traditional to place "I" as the last person in a list of subjects (probably to be humble).
text: "I and my friends", while not grammatically wrong, is generally considered to be incorrect.
text: Next, we use the verb "go" for (almost) any activity that is made with [verb]-ing.
text: "
text: Go shopping", "go swimming", "go skiing", etc.
text: You used "go" (or here the past tense, "went"), so that's correct.
text: The only thing that could possibly make your sentence wrong is if it was for the wrong time.
text: For example: I went snowboarding next week.
text: This is wrong (assuming you don't have a time machine), but I really don't think you made that mistake.
text: So why did they say it was wrong?
text: Well, there are two possibilities I can think of.
text: First, they may have been thinking that you should use the verb "do" or "play" instead of "go".
text: That's wrong.
text: "Go" is the correct word.
text: Second, they may have been making a common mistake (even among native speakers).
text: Many people say "My friends and me went snowboarding.
text: " This is not correct, because it doesn't pass the test I mentioned in the beginning.
text: My friends went snowboarding.
text: This is correct, but...
text: Me went snowboarding. ...is not correct.
text: Therefore, it should be I, not me.
text: Hope that helps!
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/80675/Drazex
score: 22
sents: text: My friends and I went snowboarding
text: There's nothing wrong with the sentence; it's perfect.
text: How come somebody says that your sentence is not correct?
text: Maybe he likes to use object pronouns when they are cojoined with other nouns/subject pronouns as many people tend to do so in informal speaking and writing.
text: In this case, the sentence will be: My friends and me went snowboarding.
text: Or maybe he likes to begin the sentence with "I"
text: as follows: I and my friends went snowboardig.
text: This sentence is also OK grammatically, but your sentence is more polite and common.
text: Another reason may be that he prefers the following sentence as presented by J.R:
text: I went snowboarding with my friends.
text: This sentence like yours also sounds easy on the ear.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9259/Khan
score: 4
sents: text: It is possible your friend had your sentence confused with a similar grammar error that you did NOT make.
text: It is incorrect to say "John gave apples to Ann and I" Same reason:
text: You can say "John gave apples to Ann" but you cannot say "John gave apples to I"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/81044/Jan
score: 2
sents: text: Your friends expected to see 'me' instead of 'I' .
text: For example: 'Me and my friends went snowboarding.'
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/80758/Burglar
score: 1
sents: text: Generally speaking..
text: My friends and I went snowboarding ..would be considered good "proper" English and is grammatically correct.
text: However, in general conversation people will say.. Me and my friends went snowboarding ..which is perfectly acceptable in all but the most polite of circumstances - by which I mean - meeting the queen etc.
text: ( "The Queen"?? :) )
text: If someone picks you up on using the second form then they are probably either..
text: Joking President of the Correct English Society (fictitious)
text: In need of a stick removing from their a**
text: But I and my friends went snowboarding ..
text: is not correct, and just sounds "wrong" to a native speaker.
text: It should either be me and my friends or my friends and I (see above).
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/81096/El Ronnoco
score: 1
sents: text: "me and my friends" is a fixed construction, which works well as subject in this sentence, allowing the object form "me".
text: "I and my friends" is not.
text: One could argue that "my friends and me" is a totally acceptable construction too, but in this sentence, "me" would be followed by the verb, which makes it sound much too close to "me went skiing..", which is by most considered grammatically very wrong.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/108003/Alf
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Your sentence is entirely correct. It is traditional to place "I" as the last person in a list of subjects).
"My friends and I" is correct. "I and my friends" is not grammatically incorrect, but it is normal to place 'I' last. It is possible that your friend thought that it should be "my friends and me", which would be incorrect.