Pronouns

Pronouns are a part of speech that take the place of nouns and can function as nouns do.Unlike nouns, pronouns can change its form based on its function in a sentence.

  1. John sold John's toys to John's friend. 
  2. John sold his toys to his friend.

Which sentence do you like better? Probably #2. I did this to demonstrate what pronouns are for. :)

Here is a table that lists pronouns, their case, number and person. [It goes without saying that the pronoun she is a feminine gender, he is male and it is neutral.]

  Subjective
means these usually serve as the subject
Objective
means these usually serve as objects
Possessive
determiner
usually describes the noun it
precedes
independent
usually is an object
Singular  
first person I me my mine
second person you you your yours
third person
this one has the genders
he
she
it
him
her
it
his
her
its
his
hers
its
Plural  
first person we us our ours
second person you you your yours
third person they them their theirs

Sentences:

You sit by me.
You is the subject [subjective pronoun] me is the object [objective pronoun].

We invited them.
We is the subject [subjective pronoun] and them is the object [objective pronoun].

Try using the pronouns in the wrong places.

Two of the functions that a noun will serve in a sentence is as the subject or as an object. In the sentences below the subject is highlighted with yellow and the object is highlighted with blue.

Bob is going with Jane
He is going with her.
Him is going with she. Wrong

Jane brought Betty.
She brought her.
Her brought she. Wrong

Karen and Bill went with Jane and Betty.
They went with them.
Them went with they. Wrong

Bob went with Jane and Betty.
He went with them.
Him went with they. Wrong

As you can see, the subject will use the subjective pronoun and an object will use the objective pronoun.

Me
Me and you are leaving now. --This is incorrect. Me is an objective pronoun so it will never be correctly used as a subject. If you drop the and you from the sentence it will read:  "Me is leaving now." and you can see clearly just how incorrect that is! :-)
Another point on this, if you use the correct subjective pronoun, I, always place yourself last ... Holly, John and I are leaving now.

And one more little point: When used in a prepositional phrase, me is used rather than I:
Example:
The bake-off for best pie was between Jane and me. Although it may sound like it should be Jane and I, that can not be because in this sentence Jane and me are objects of the preposition.

Hello Visitor!

I am currently working on this website to add to its ginormousness. Thank you for visiting, and please subscribe yearly to access my many printable files! Donna Young
May 13, 2021

Welcome to DonnaYoung.org!
Donna Young

Teach the Calendar

You are at DonnaYoung.org, online since 1998. Thank you for visiting my website. Donna Young

Back to Top