Ch. 19: Using
Pronouns Correctly
604-627
Case
 Case is the FORM that a noun or
pronoun takes to show its relationship to
other words in a sentence.
 English has three cases:
 Nominative (subject)
 OBJECTIVE
 Possessive
Noun cases
 Noun forms are the same for nominative and
objective cases.
 NOM: The cannibal bit my arm off.
 OBJ: I shot the cannibal.
 Nouns change form in the possessive case by
adding an apostrophe.
 POSS: I toilet papered the cannibal’s house
again.
Pronoun cases
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Pronouns change forms more often.
NOM: We slept in Mr. Flint’s class.
She and Irving slept past the bell
OBJ: Mr. Flint tried to wake US up.
He kicked Irving and HER.
POSS: Mr. Flint collected OUR work.
He put HER work in the trash.
Case forms tell you:
 Number – singular or plural
 Person – 1st, 2nd or 3rd
 Gender – Masculine, feminine or neuter
The Nominative Case
(subjects & predicate
nominatives)
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1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
SINGULAR
I
you
he, she, it
PLURAL
we
you
they
Subjects & Predicate
Nominatives…
 are always in the NOMINATIVE form.
 HE AND I will cut your car in half.
 Mr. Flint said that I should leave.
 The one with the highest grade is SHE.
 It was I who made the comment.
608: Exercise 1
The Objective Case (DO, IO,
& objects of prepositions)
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1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
SINGULAR
ME
you
him, her, it
PLURAL
us
you
THEM
Direct objects, Indirect
objects and Objects of
prepositions…
 are always in the OBJECTIVE form.




My English teacher robbed ME.
He talks about giving THEM my money.
Let’s pull a prank on Irving and HER.
Did you go with Irving and HIM to see the
Justin Beiber movie?
611: Exercise 2
611: Exercise 3
612: Review A
The Possessive Case
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1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
SINGULAR
my, MINE
your, yours
his, her, HERS, its
PLURAL
our, ours
your, yours
THEIR, theirs
Some are used as
pronouns
 Pronouns REPLACE nouns or other
pronouns.
 Mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
 Your car and MINE were stolen again.
 We stole HIS yesterday.
 Compared to YOURS, my dog smells
good.
Some are used as
adjectives
 Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.
 (These are still pronouns – they replace
people’s names – but they are also used to
modify a noun/pronoun in the sentence)
 MY car is gone!
 HIS first attempt at robbery failed.
 Do you remember OUR secret handshake?
Gerunds
 A noun or pronoun that precedes a
gerund should be in the possessive case.
 Remember: a gerund is:
 Verb form
 Ends in –ing
 Functions as a noun (it’s a thing)
 You can replace it with IT
Gerund examples
 THEIR winning led to a celebration.
 Winning is a thing; it is the subject.
 IT led to a celebration.
 My parents objected to MY working late.
 They didn’t object to ME.
 They objected to IT – working.
 We were thrilled by Irving’s scoring in
the top 10.
Present participles
 Don’t confuse gerunds with present
participles.
 Present participles
 Are verb forms
 End in –ing
 But do not function as nouns (they aren’t
things)
 They can’t be replaced by IT
Present participle
examples
 We found him sitting on a bench.
 We found HIM. We didn’t find SITTING.
 ‘Sitting’ is not a thing. ‘Sitting’ describes a
thing: ‘him.’
 He didn’t see the dodge ball until he felt it
colliding with his face.
 He didn’t feel ‘colliding.’ He felt IT.
 ‘Colliding’ is not a thing. ‘Colliding’
describes the ball.
614: Exercise 4
Appositives
 An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed
beside another noun or pronoun to IDENTIFY
or describe it.
 An easy way to remember this: appositives
ADD information (positive +)
 A pronoun used as an appositive is in the
same CASE as the word it identifies
Appositive examples
 My best friends, Irving and HE, robbed me
yesterday.
 “Irving and he” identifies my best friends, the
subjects. So HE is in the nominative (SUBJECT)
case.
 My dad paid the two guys, Irving and HIM, to
get my stuff back.
 “Irving and him” identifies the two guys, the direct
objects. So HIM is in the objective case.
We/Us with appositives
 When these have appositives, try each
form without the appositive to see which
case to use.
 (We, Us) students learned many
interesting things.
 The counselor talked to (we, us)
students.
615: Exercise 5
Pronouns in elliptical
constructions
 An elliptical construction is a word group
from which words are MISSING.
 We use these when making
comparisons.
 These usually begin with THAN or AS.
 I can read as fast as you (can).
 See how CAN is missing? That’s what
makes this an elliptical construction.
Elliptical constructions
 A pronoun in an elliptical construction is the
same CASE as it would be if the construction
were completed.
 Most of us would say:
 I run as fast as him.
 But complete the construction by adding the
VERB from the beginning of the comparison:
 I run as fast as him runs ???
 Correct: I run as fast as he runs.
 I run as fast as HE.
More ellipticals
 Irving is a better robber than ______
 He IS a better robber than I AM.
 Even my dog is smarter than ____
 My dog is smarter than HE IS.
 Irving has as much money as ____
 He has as much money as WE HAVE.
Different cases, different
meanings
 Dan misses New York as much as her.
 Verb = misses. Put that after “as.”
 Dan misses NY as much as (he) misses her.
 Dan misses New York as much as she.
 Verb = misses.
 Dan misses NY as much as she misses (it).
 Or “as much as she does.”
Another example
 Did Mr. Flint pay you as much as I?
 Verb = pay.
 Did he pay you as much as I paid (you)?
 Did Mr. Flint pay you as much as me?
 Verb = pay.
 Did he pay you as much as (he) paid me?
616: Exercise 6
Reflexive and Intensive
Pronouns
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1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
SINGULAR
myself
yourself
himself, HERSELF, itself
PLURAL
ourselves
yourselves
THEMSELVES
Reflexive Pronouns
Review
 Reflexives refer to the subject of a verb
and function as a complement (DO, IO,
OC, PN, PA) or an object of a
preposition.
 Bill is not himself today. (PN)
 I hurt myself. (DO)
 Give yourself a pat on the back. (IO)
 She would rather be by herself. (OP)
Intensive Pronouns
Review
 An intensive pronoun emphasizes its
antecedent and has no grammatical
function in the sentence.
 My dad and I restored the car ourselves.
 We didn’t restore ourselves.
 Rather than forcing an underling to do it, I
myself did the dirty work.
-self & -selves pronouns
must refer to something in
the sentence
 Irving and myself robbed another bank.
 Myself doesn’t refer to anything in the
sentence.
 Correct: Irving and I robbed another bank.
 “How are you?”
“OK. How about yourself?”
 Yourself doesn’t refer to anything.
 Correct: “How about you?”
 Give these to Mr. Flint or (myself/me).
618: Exercise 7
Who and Whom
 These are different cases.
 Nominative:
 Objective:
 Possessive:
WHO
whom
whose
whoever
whomever
WHOSEVER
 So “who” is for subjects and PNs
 “Whom” is for DO, IO, OP
Mr. Bulgrien’s method
 Nominative (subject) forms:
 Singular: HE
WHO
 Plural: they
who
 Notice how they sound familiar.
(whoever)
(whoever)
 Objective forms:
 Singular: HIM
WHOM
(whomever)
 Plural: THEM whom
(whomever)
 They sound familiar and have Ms.
 Possessive forms:
 Singular: HIS
WHOSE
(whosever)
 Plural: Their whose
(whosever)
 They sound familiar and have Ss.
How it works
 When you have or need Who/Whom in a
sentence:
 1. Find the verb after it.
 2. Put the subject of that verb first.
 3. Try plugging in HE or HIM where you
need who or whom.
 4. If HE works, use WHO. If him works,
use whom.
Who/Whom examples
 Who did you get to take care of your cats?
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Verb = did get.Subject of that: YOU.
Put subject first and plug in he/him.
You did get (him) to take care of your cats?
So it should be “WHOM did you get…”
 Whom gave us that stolen money?
 V = gave.
Subject = … not sure?
 Plug in he/him  HE gave us that stolen money?
 So it should be “WHO gave us…”
Try these
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
_____ did the expert recommend?
_____ took my Doritos?
You were arrested by ____?
The prize will go to ____-ever robs the most
banks.
 Yes, I am the one ____ cut your car in half.
 ____ do you think will win the Super Bowl?
 Irving is ____ I think will be valedictorian.
621: Exercise 8
621: Review B
623: Review C
623 Review D