Pronouns
Subjects and objects
First let's look at case--that is, the difference between the
subject
and
object
forms of the pronouns. We know what subjects are, and
objects
are thosewords that come at the end of prepositional phrases (among other things).You probably already know the differences, but just in case, here's a list of the forms:
Subject Object
I meyou youhe himshe herit itwe usthey themThe onlything you need to know is that these forms can't be switched around. If theword is a
subject
, it must be a subject form; if it's an
object
. . . well, you getthe idea. Consider the following:
o
Peggy and
me
barked at the garbage truck.
o
Her
and
me
fought over the bone.Some of you are probably thinking, "What's wrong with these?" In
spokenEnglish
, you'll hear things like this every day. But in
written English
, you needto make sure your forms aren't mixed up. The correct versions are "Peggyand
I
" and "
She
and
I
," since the words are the subject of the sentence.
Nothing
in the
object
list can be a subject--
ever
! You wouldn't say, "Mebarked" or "me fought"--unless you were trying out for a Tarzan movie.The same goes for
objects
of prepositions. You can't use a
subject
form in aprepositional phrase.
o
Small Cat fetched the paper for her and
I
.
2
Leave a Comment