Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What L.6.1 Means in Plain English
Sixth graders put pronouns in the right case (“Ana and I went,” “between you and me”), use intensive pronouns like himself for emphasis, hold one person and number through a sentence, and replace any pronoun that could point to two people. They catch these slips in speech and writing.
Fifth graders (L.5.1) worked on verbs: perfect tenses, consistent tense and correlative pairs. Sixth grade turns to pronouns, and to noticing where everyday speech differs from standard English and choosing the conventional form. Seventh grade (L.7.1) moves to phrases and clauses, sentence types and misplaced or dangling modifiers.
L.6.1 I Can Statements
I can use I as a subject and me as an object.
I can use intensive pronouns like myself to add emphasis.
I can fix pronouns that shift or could point to two people.
L.6.1 Worked Example
Three sentences, four pronoun slips: one in case, one vague, one shift, and a myself with nothing to point back to.
Prompt
Fix the pronouns in these three sentences.
Not YetMe and Ana asked Ms. Lee if she could help us with her poster. When students forget their passes, you have to go back to class. The principal himself handed the awards to Dev and myself.Me is doing a subject’s job, her could mean Ana or Ms. Lee, the second sentence slides from students to you, and myself has no earlier mention of the speaker to point back to.
Meets the StandardAna and I asked Ms. Lee if she could help us with Ana’s poster. When students forget their passes, they have to go back to class. The principal himself handed the awards to Dev and me.I fills the subject slot, the poster now has a clear owner, they stays with students, and me fits as an object. Himself stays, because it emphasizes the principal, who is already named.
Moves to Use
Subjects take I, he, she, we and they. Objects take me, him, her, us and them.Use an intensive pronoun like himself only to stress a noun already in the sentence.Choose one person and number and stay there: students go with they, not you.Swap any pronoun that could point to two people for the noun itself.Read the sentence aloud to catch spoken habits like “me and Ana” before they reach the page.
Common Mistakes with L.6.1
Hypercorrecting to I
“This stays between you and I.”
Try this: Point out that between, with and to take objects, then have students test each pronoun alone: “between I” fails, “between me” works.
Myself as the polite choice
“Please send your forms to Mr. Hall or myself.”
Try this: Ask whether the sentence already names the same person. If it doesn’t, myself has nothing to point back to, so use me.
The pronoun with two possible owners
“When Maya talked to Grace, she was upset.”
Try this: Have a partner ask “Who?” at every he, she or they, and replace the pronoun with a name wherever the answer is unclear.
Sentence Scramble GeneratorFree ToolMixed-up sentences built around pronouns (Ana and I, between you and me, the principal himself), so students rebuild each one with the right form in place.Pronoun caseIntensive pronounsGrade 6
Me is an object pronoun, but here it is part of the subject. The subject form is I: “Ana and I asked Ms. Lee.”
Why does himself stay in the strong version while myself becomes me?
Himself is an intensive pronoun stressing the principal, who is named in the sentence. Myself pointed back to no one, so the object pronoun me is correct.
Fix the shift: “If a person practices every day, you will improve.”
Stay in the third person: “If a person practices every day, he or she will improve,” or make it plural: “If people practice every day, they will improve.”