Pronouns
by Writing Center tutor Lisa Geren

 

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Subjective

Objective

Possessive

 

I, we

me, us

my, mine, our, ours

 

you

you

your, yours

 

he, she, it, they

him, her,  it, them

their, theirs

 

who

whom

whose

Subjective case pronoun

When the pronoun functions as the subject or subject complement.

Personal Pronoun as a subject

She has to spend $300 on books this semester.

 

Compound subject pronoun

When using two pronouns as the subject, both pronouns must be subject pronouns. The same is true when using a proper noun with a personal pronoun.

Incorrect: Me and her are going shopping.
Me and her are both object pronouns and therefore, must be in the predicate side of the sentence.

Correct: She and I are going shopping.
Incorrect:  Joe and me are to the movies.
Correct:  Joe and I are going to the movies

 

Personal Pronoun subjective complement

Personal pronoun completes the subject.

This is she speaking.

 

 

Objective pronoun

 

When the pronoun functions as a direct object, an indirect object or object of the preposition.

The boy kicked it.
                    Direct object 
The boy kicked me the ball.
                              Indirect object
The boy kicked the ball with it.
                             Preposition    object of the preposition

 

 

 

 

Compound object pronoun

Incorrect: Stacey went to the store with Dari and I.

Correct: Stacey went to the store with Dari and me.

Incorrect: Stacey went to the store with she and me.

Correct: Stacey went to the store with her and me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When a personal pronoun is used in a comparison, choose the correct pronoun case by carrying the sentence out to its logical conclusion.

My daughter is older than she is.

Shortened: My daughter is older than she.

 

 

 

 

Interrogative pronouns

 

Who is subjective case like the pronouns he, she, they, I, and we.

Who is in the car with Jackie?

Jackie, who is studying kinesiology, is in Australia.

Whom is the objective case like, her, she, them and me.

Joe is in the car with whom?

The guy, whom he met in his class, is in the car with Joe.

Use whom for direct objects, indirect objects and objects of the preposition.

Possessive Pronouns

Theirs is really big house.

Yours is a far better cell phone than mine.

Whose book is sitting on the floor?

 

Reflexive Pronouns: the “self” pronouns

 

These pronouns can be used only to reflect or intensify a word already there:

Myself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves.

No such thing as theirselves, theirself, hisself, or ourself.

 

I saw myself in the mirror.

 

The little girl said, “I can do it myself.”

 

 

Indefinite pronouns

one                       someone             anyone       no one          everyone
each                      somebody          anybody     nobody       everybody
neither/either   something          anything     nothing       everything

 

 

Anything that ends in one/body/ or thing is considered singular and should use a singular verb.

Somebody is playing their music really loud.

Everybody should turn off their cell phone in class.

Everyone is going to the concert.

Interrogative Pronouns

Who    whose    whom    which    what

Interrogative pronouns produce information questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer

 

 

 

What do you want?

 

 

 

Who is there?

 

 

Relative Pronouns

Who   whose   that   which

Relative pronouns introduce relative (adjectival) clauses.

That is the person whom I love. (modifies person)

The person who has the highest GPA will get to speak at graduation.

The car that we bought is a piece of junk.