This will be the last in the series about using pronouns. Let’s finish up by going over using pronouns in the proper case.
Pronouns will change case depending on their function in a sentence. I’ll break that down for you:
- A pronoun that functions as a subject or subject complement appears in the subjective case (I, we, you, he/she/it, they)
- When a pronoun functions as an object, it appears in the objective case (me, us, you, him/her/it, them)
- Pronouns functioning as possessives appear in the possessive case (my, our, your, his/hers/its, their)
In some cases, it’s easy to use the wrong case. We’ll talk about each case and the pitfalls to watch out for.
Subjective case
If a pronoun acts as a subject, it must take the subject-case form.
Nancy and he shared a cab to the concert.
Easy right? The tricky part is when using subject complements. These are words that follow linking verbs that complete the meaning of the subject of a sentence. Here’s an example of the wrong way to use a pronoun as a subject complement:
Bob confessed that the secret admirer was him.
This is the correct way to write it:
Bob confessed that the secret admirer was he.
The confusion happens because we often speak one way and write another way. In the case above, the best way to eliminate any confusion is to write this more like we would say it:
Bob confessed that he was the secret admirer.
Much better to the ear and easier to write correctly. You definitely wouldn’t say “him was the secret admirer” right? The problem is solved by rewriting the sentence into a more natural manner of speaking.
Objective case
Pronouns functioning as direct objects, indirect objects or objects of prepositions should be in the objective case (me, us, you, him/her/it, them).
Direct object: Nancy met Andy and brought him home.
Indirect object: Bob gave me a gift for Christmas.
Object of a preposition: Nancy thought the gift was for her.
So, what about subjects of infinitives? I knew that question would be knocking around in your head.
A Writer’s Reference defines an infinitive as “the word to followed by the base form of a verb.” When an infinitive has a subject, that subject must be in the objective case (not the subjective).
My mom wanted my sister and me to go to town with her.
Many people (my mom included) would use the subjective pronoun I instead in this case. I don’t know about you, but my mom was always correcting me on this one. The objective case is correct here, so don’t listen to someone telling you “me” is wrong.
The easiest way to make sure you’re using the right pronoun here is to remove one of the objective pronouns. You wouldn’t say, “my mom wanted I to go to town with her” right? Good. We agree then.
Possessive case
Before I get into possessive case, I need to define what a gerund is. Do you remember what a gerund is? Yeah, me neither. The funny thing is, I use them a lot. We all do.
A gerund is a verb that ends in -ing but functions as a noun. It can be a single word or a gerund phrase. An example is the phrase “following me around.”
When using a pronoun to modify a gerund or gerund phrase, use the possessive case (my, our, your, his/hers/its, their).
The chances of your being elected president are extremely slim.
Compound word groups
This is one area that can be confusing, but there’s an easy test to make sure you have it right. Let’s look at an example and see how the test works.
The family watched as her father and she put the star on the tree.
If you remove the words “her father and” from the sentence, it becomes more obvious that “she” is the correct pronoun in this case.
The family watched as she put the star on the tree.
Some writers make the mistake of substituting the word “myself” for the proper pronoun when using compound word groups. Here’s an example:
The museum allowed my husband and myself into the building even though they would be closing in five minutes.
The correct pronoun here is “me.”
The museum allowed my husband and me into the building even though they would be closing in five minutes.
The test works here as well. You wouldn’t say “the museum allowed myself into the building” now would you. Nope. Didn’t think so.
Using “we” or “us” before a noun
If you can’t decide whether “we” or “us” is the right pronoun to use before a noun, I have a test for that, too. Remove the noun that would follow the pronoun and see which makes sense.
The company is cheating us workers out of vacation time.
Remove the word “workers,” and it’s easy to see the right pronoun to use.
Comparisons made with than or as
Read this sentence:
My brother is 16 years younger than I.
If we were to complete this sentence with the implied word “am,” it would read this way:
My brother is 16 years younger than I am.
How about this one:
We respected no other boss as much as him.
Rewriting the sentence makes it better, even though the sentence above is technically correct.
We respected no other boss as much as we respected him.
Better, right? Those sentence parts that were eliminated are usually verbs. It can cause confusion when choosing a pronoun. Rewriting can fix the problem or at least point out the proper pronoun.
Pronouns are in the books
Whew! So glad pronouns are done. I hope you found a good tidbit here or there that will help you use pronouns properly. Thanks for sticking around till the end.