Part I: Personal Pronouns/Cases

PRONOUN USAGE NOTES

PART I: PERSONAL PRONOUNS/CASES

Personal Pronouns: A pronoun that changes form depending on what person is referred to.

1st person—person speaking (I, we) 2nd person—person spoken to (you) 3rd person—person other than the speaker or the person spoken to (he, she, it, they)

Pronoun Cases: The case or form changes depending on the use of the pronoun.

Singular Pronouns

Nominative Objective Case Possessive Case Case 1st person I me my, mine 2nd person you you your, yours 3rd person he, she, it him, her, it his, her, hers, its

Plural Pronouns

Nominative Objective Case Possessive Case Case 1st person we us our, ours 2nd person you you your, yours 3rd person they them their, theirs

PART II: NOMINATIVE CASE

Used as: 1. SUBJECT 2. PREDICATE NOMINATIVE

A. The Nominative Case as a Subject :

She is a good friend of mine.

1 Problem Situations:

1. A compound subject  The girls and (he, him) went to the movies.  Try each subject separately. The girls went to the movies. (He, him) went to the movies.

2. A pronoun and a noun appositive  (We, us) freshmen wish we didn’t have to write a research paper  Remove the appositive  (We, us) freshman wish we didn’t have to write a research paper.

B. The Nominative Case as a Predicate Nominative  Predicate nominative is a noun that follows a linking verb  SUBJECT = PREDICATE NOMINATIVE

(Common linking verbs: AM, IS, ARE, WAS, WERE, MAY BE, etc.) Example: It was he who suggested that they take a day off of work.

PART III: THE OBJECTIVE CASE

Used in the following ways: 1. Direct object 2. Indirect object 3. Object of the preposition

A. As a direct object: Jessica decided to call him. The explosion frightened my friends and me.

B. As an indirect object” I handed him my math homework.

C. As an object of a preposition: He stood in line between you and me.

NOTE: Again, watch out for the following scenarios: 1. Compound object—I made sure to call Sam and (she, her). 2. Noun appositive—Everyone blames (we, us) students for the trouble.

2 3 PART IV: WHO VS. WHOM

Nominative—who, whoever Objective—whom, whomever

When WHO/ WHOM is used in a subordinate clause, the use of the pronoun is determined by its function IN THE CLAUSE.

Steps in Using Who/ Whom: 1. Find the subordinate clause

2. Determine how the pronoun is used IN the clause  SUB, PN, DO, IO, OP  Identifying the subject and verb of the clause may help

3. Determine the case of the pronoun based on the usual rules

4. Select the correct from of the pronoun

NOTE: No words outside of the clause affect the case of the pronoun.

Example: Herb Matthew, (who, whom) I sat next to, fell asleep during the last act of the play.

1. SUBORDINATE CLAUSE: (who, whom) I sat next to 2. FUNCTION IN CLAUSE:  Subject of clause = I  Verb of clause = sat (action)  (Who, whom) = object of preposition 3. CASE  Object of Preposition = OBJECTIVE 4. FORM  OBJECTIVE IS WHOM  Hint: If you have BOTH an action verb and its subject WITHIN the clause you’ve bracketed off, it’s always WHOM; if not, it’s WHO!

Example: I voted for Margaret O’Rourke (who, whom) my friends recommended.

Example: Do you know (who, whom) she is?

PART V: INCOMPLETE CONSTRUCTION

Occurs when part of the sentence is omitted but understood

Example: My sister is older than I. (IMPLIED: My sister is older than I [am old]).

After than and as in an incomplete construction, use the form of the pronoun that you would use if the construction were completed. You should aim to complete the construction in your own writing!

Example: Fran was as delighted as (I, me).

Fran was as delighted as I was.

Sometimes the choice of pronoun affects the meaning of the entire sentence.

Example: I know Jerry better than (he, him).

Does it mean that I know Jerry better than I know him? OR Does it mean I know Jerry better than he knows Jerry?

PART IV: WHO’S vs. WHOSE

Who’s = who is Example: Do you know who’s on first base?

Whose= possessive

5 Do you know whose baseball mitt this is?

Circle the correct choice in the following sentences: 1. I cannot remember (who’s, whose) attending the picnic. 2. Amanda wondered (who’s, whose) textbook was left behind today.