41a Understanding pronoun case
Contents:
Using pronouns as subjects
Using pronouns as objects
Using pronouns as possessives
Quick Help: Editing for case
Most speakers of English know intuitively when to use I, me, or my. The choice reflects differences in case, the form a pronoun takes to indicate its function in a sentence. Pronouns functioning as subjects are in the subjective case; those functioning as objects are in the objective case; and those functioning as possessives are in the possessive case.
SUBJECTIVE PRONOUNS
| I/we | you | he/she/it | they | who/whoever |
OBJECTIVE PRONOUNS
| me/us | you | him/her/it | them | whom/whomever |
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
| my/our | your | his/hers/its | their | whose |
| mine/ours | yours | his/hers/its | theirs |
Using pronouns as subjects
Use a subjective pronoun as a subject of a clause, a subject complement, or an appositive renaming a subject or subject complement (37a).
SUBJECT OF A CLAUSE
They could either fight or face certain death with the lions.
Who is your closest friend?
Pedro told the story to Lizzie, who told all her friends.
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
The person in charge was she.
APPOSITIVE RENAMING A SUBJECT OR SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
Three colleagues—Peter, John, and she—worked on the program.
Americans often use the objective case for subject complements, especially in conversation: Who’s there? It’s me. However, expect to use the subjective case in formal writing. If you find the subjective case stilted or awkward, try rewriting the sentence using the pronoun as the subject.
Using pronouns as objects
Use an objective pronoun as a direct or indirect object (of a verb or verbal), an object of a preposition, an appositive renaming an object, or when the pronoun is followed by an infinitive (37a and c).
OBJECT OF A VERB OR VERBAL
The professor surprised us with a quiz. [direct object of surprised]
The grateful owner gave him a reward. [indirect object of gave]
The Parisians were always wonderful about helping me. [direct object of gerund]
OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION
Several friends went with him.
APPOSITIVE RENAMING AN OBJECT
The committee elected two representatives, Sach and me.
PRONOUN FOLLOWED BY AN INFINITIVE
The students convinced him to vote for the school bond.
Using pronouns as possessives
Use a possessive pronoun to show possession or ownership. Notice that there are two forms of possessive pronouns: those that function as adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose) and those that take the place of a noun (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, whose).
ADJECTIVE FORMS
People were buying their tickets weeks in advance of the show.
Whose fault was the accident?
NOUN FORMS
The responsibility is hers.
Whose is this blue backpack?
When a pronoun appears before a verbal (37d) that ends in -ing, using a possessive pronoun leads to a different meaning than using an objective pronoun.
I remember his singing.
The possessive pronoun his makes singing the object of remember.
I remember him singing.
The pronoun him is the object of remember, and singing modifies him.
Choose the pronoun that makes sense for the meaning you want to convey.
Talking the Talk: Correctness or stuffiness?