In Personal and Possessive Pronouns you met I, me, she, her and the rest. In Direct Objects you found the word that receives the action. Now put the two together: a pronoun changes its form to show its job. That form is called its case.
| Case | Pronouns | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject (subjective) | I, he, she, we, they, who | subject of a verb | “We won.” |
| Object (objective) | me, him, her, us, them, whom | object of a verb or a preposition | “The coach thanked us.” “Sit with me.” |
| Possessive | my, mine, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs, whose | shows ownership | “That is her book.” |
Key idea
Use subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, they) as subjects. Use object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) after verbs and prepositions.
Why it works
English shows a pronoun’s job by its form. “Him called she” has the right words in the wrong forms, and it sounds broken because the forms are what tell the reader who did what.
Worked example: A subject
(Them / They) won the game.
- Who won? The pronoun is the subject.
- Subjects take the subject form: they.
Answer: They won the game.
Worked example: After a preposition
Coach gave the trophy to (we / us).
- To is a preposition, and the pronoun is its object.
- Objects take the object form: us.
Answer: Coach gave the trophy to us.
Common mistake
Using an object pronoun as a subject when there are two people: “Me and Sam went to the park.” Take Sam out: “Me went” sounds wrong, “I went” sounds right. So: “Sam and I went to the park.” (Putting the other person first is a courtesy.) The next topic, Pronouns in Pairs, practices this test.
After is and was, traditional formal grammar uses the subject form (“It is I.” “This is she.”), while “It’s me” is normal in conversation and accepted by many usage guides. Both are heard; very formal writing keeps the subject form.