UWF WRITING LAB

RULES OF THUMB FOR

PRONOUN CASE
from Real Good Grammar, Too
by Mamie Webb Hixon

Created by April Turner

 Who versusWhom
Use who or whoever when you can replace the
word with he:
He is the candidate who should win.
(He should win.)
Give the money to whoever wins.
(He wins.)
Use whom or whomever when you can replace
the word with him:
He is a candidate whom we can trust.
(We can trust him.)
Give the money to whomever the team chooses.
(The team chooses him.)
A pronoun and other people
Ignore/delete and and
the other people:
(You and) I figured
out the answer.
The professor asked
(you and) me to read
the text.
Everyone except
(Shequita and) me
attended the meeting.
 Pronouns with between
Remember that between is a preposition, so
you always need the object pronouns.
Object pronouns are me, him, her, us, them,
whom, and whomever.
The debate was between her and me OR
between him and his professor.
Pronouns with another noun
Ignore/delete the
noun:
We (women) must
stick together.
The instructor told us
(students) to sit down.
 Possessive Pronouns with
Gerunds
Use a possessive pronoun preceding a gerund:
I am happy about your winning the lottery.
Some possessive pronouns are my, his, her,
your, their, and our.
 Pronouns after than or as
Insert the
elliptical/omitted
words:
My classmates are
much older than I
[am].
Janice is taller than I
[am].
 Linking Verbs
Use subject pronouns after linking verbs:
The winner of the contest is she.
The subject pronouns are I, she, he, we,
they, who, and whoever.
Some linking verbs are am, is, are, was,
and were.
 Let’s Practice!!!
Alcohol and tobacco are harmful to (whoever,
whomever) consumes them.
WHOEVER
If I should decide to buy a hunting license, (who,
whom) should I see?
WHOM
Dr. Evans asked Suzanne and (I, me) to explain
the recent studies in literary criticism.
ME
Just between you and (I, me), I think Lance
Armstrong is the best cyclist in the world.
ME
Let’s Finish Up With a Few More.
(We, Us) students are worried about the rising
cost of textbooks.
WE STUDENTS…
I was happy to hear about you getting married.
…YOUR GETTING MARRIED.
That man thinks he is smarter than me!
…THAN I!
I am certain that the woman wearing the red
velvet jacket is her.
…IS SHE.