Pronoun Case
Les Hanson 2002
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
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



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.
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”)