Transcript Pronoun Case

Pronoun Case Lesson
 This presentation will review the basics of pronoun
case and selection.
 Take careful notes and feel free to ask questions
during the presentation.

Parts of this presentation are compliments of Professor Les Hanson of Red River College
Pronoun Case
 Case tells whether a pronoun shows possession or
acts as subject or object in the sentence
 Writers use the following four terms
Subjective (Nominative)
Objective
Possessive
Reflexive
Subjective
 Use the subjective case when the pronoun is
either the subject or the complement of the
sentence (The doer of the action)
She gave her goldfish to the boy next door.
It was he who called me a bad name.
I, you, he, she, we, they, who
Use the Subjective Case
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At the beginning of sentences
I/me hate grammar
After any form of the verb “to be” (is, was, will be)
The one who ate the most pizza is he/him.
When referring to the subject of an implied clause
following “as” or “than”
My brother is more agile than I /me (am).
Objective
 Use the objective case when the pronoun is an
object of the sentence (the receiver of the action)
Arnold sent flowers to her. (Object of Preposition)
Betty phoned him tonight. (Object of Verb)
Alex hates Garth more than (he hates) me. (Object in
an implied clause)
Me, you, him, her, us, them, whom
Use the Objective Case
 After action verbs
Arnold bought (her, she) a new toaster
 After prepositions (joining words)
Several of (us, we) girls are going to Cancun for our
holidays in March
Possessive
 Use possessive case pronouns to show ownership
Possessive case pronouns do not use an apostrophe
Example: The goldfish was ours, but Sam gave it to his
cat.
Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
Use the Possessive Case
 With words that modify gerunds
(a gerund is an ing word that functions as a noun)
I knew that (his / him / he) smoking in the toilet would
make the flight attendants angry.
The chances of our / we / us winning the World Cup are
not very good
Reflexive
 Use reflexive pronouns when one pronoun has
already been used to refer to someone
He hit himself with a hammer
She bought herself a new car
Myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves
Using the Reflexive Case
 Only use the reflexive if the other cases do not work
The minister and me/ myself/ I toured the mill.
He kept looking at he/ him/ himself in the mirror.
Using Who and Whom
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Remember which pronouns are subjective and which are
objective:
I
You
He
She
We
They
Who
Me
You
Him
Her
Us
Them
Whom
Choosing Who or Whom
 Check to see whether the word is subjective or
objective
__________ is going to baseball practice?
Subject of the sentence
Subjective = Who
She gave the award to ___________?
Object of the preposition
Objective = whom
Still trying to choose?
 Try substituting a different pronoun
Who/Whom should we give the money to?
 Instead, think of it as
We should give the money to he/him.
Him is objective, so should we choose who or whom?
 Try again
Who/Whom wrote this book?
Change to “He/Him wrote this book?”
He is subjective, so our answer is WHO
Rules of Thumb
 Don’t automatically use the word “I” at the end of
sentences
John spread the virus to Martha and I
John spread the virus to Martha and me
 Reduce sentences to their simplest forms
Rod and (I / me) ate three pizzas
(I / me) ate three pizzas (delete the words “Rod and”)
I / me ate three pizzas
Rod and I ate three pizzas (replace the words “Rod
and”)
Try a few as practice...
My friend Jim and I both enjoy going to baseball games, but
I enjoy eating hotdogs much more than (he/him).
 Jack and (he/him) should stop wasting their money.
 I am often less patient than (she/her).
 They heard (them/themselves) on the radio.
 (Who/Whom) was the first president?
 Either you or (me/I) need to get a new television.
 Out of all the people in the world, (who/whom) would you
choose to marry?
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 I can swim much farther than (he/him).