Another Look at Pronouns
The traditional definition of a pronoun is a word which takes the place of, or stands for,
a noun. "Pro" means "for"--for the noun--pro noun. Pronouns can cause problems
because their form changes to match their function.
1. If the pronoun is being used to show possession or ownership, the
possessive case is needed. The possessive pronouns are fairly easy to
spot: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, one's, whose, our, ours,
their, theirs, whose.
Her goal is to compete favorably against the team from Maryville.
Theirs is the stronger team, but hers is in better condition.
2. A. If the pronoun is being used to designate the subject of a sentence
or clause, the subjective case is needed.
The subject is a word or a group of words that names the person or the thing about whom or which
the verb makes a statement or asks a question. The word that answers WHO? or WHAT? about
the verb is the subject.
The boy hit the ball. Who or what hit the ball? The boy is the subject.
B. The subjective pronoun is also needed if the verb is one which
expresses CONDITION rather than ACTION because the word that
follows the verb has to be in the subjective case, just like the subject.
This construction is called the predicate nominative (or complement of a
verb).
In this kind of situation, the verb is functioning as an equals mark (=) rather than as an
action word. The verb will be a form of be: am, is, are, was, were.
1. It was he who telephoned you.
It = he. It and he are the same; both are the subject, so they both have to be in the
subjective case.
2. I am he (not him). He is subjective to agree with the I.
3. I was afraid it was she.
She is subjective to agree with it, not her--her is objective.
4. Clarence thought you were I. I is subjective to agree with you.
Note: In spoken English (and maybe even in casual writing), these last four predicate nominative
examples may sound too formal. Know your listener/reader
The CMSU Writing Center
Central Missouri State University, Humphreys 116
Another Look at Pronouns, page 41
3. If the pronoun is being used to designate an object of a verb, an
indirect object of a verb, or an object of a preposition, the objective case
is needed: me, us, you, him, her, it, them, whom.
Use the process of elimination to determine which form of the pronoun
you need:
If you are not dealing with a type of "ownership" or "possession" (possessive case), and
you know that you have located all the subject-verb sets (and therefore have accounted
for all the needs for the subjective case), then by the process of elimination, you need
the objective case.
The objective case is used when we need objects--direct objects, indirect objects, or
objects of prepositions--but never when we need subjects.
First, let's locate some subject-verb sets:
Although John and she went to the same school, they never met.
The verb went has as its subject John and she.
The verb met has as its subject they.
No other pronoun remains for us to worry about.
If all possessives are working correctly, and all subject-verb sets are accounted for,
we must be looking for an object. Let's check the following examples:
The tutor helped my brother and (I , me) with our math homework.
The verb is helped. The tutor is the subject of the verb helped.
There are no other subject-verb sets to worry about, so for the pronoun which is left, we
should select me because it is in the objective case.
Joan and my other cousin tried to fill the birdfeeder for my brother and (me, I).
Joan and cousin go together with tried to create a subject-verb set.
If there were a verb which needed a subject, we might use I, but there's no verb, so
we need the objective case form--me.
Try these:
Lois gave the flower basket to Mary and (him, he).
Mary and (me, I), in turn, gave it to Sandy and (she, her).
Sally and (she, her) cooperated to bring the basket back.
(She/her) and Sally cooperated to return the basket.
The CMSU Writing Center
Central Missouri State University, Humphreys 116
Another Look at Pronouns, continued, page 42
Another Look at Pronouns – Some Answers
Four sentences from page 42:
Lois gave the flower basket to Mary and (him, he).
Mary and (me,
The CMSU Writing Center
Central Missouri State University, Humphreys 116
Another Look at Pronouns, continued, page 43