Pronouns: Personal Pronouns

Pronouns: Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns have different forms to express person (first, second, or third), number (singular or plural), and function in a clause.

Forms of Personal Pronouns

	Subject	Object	Possessive (adjective)	Possessive (standing alone)
First person singular	I	me	my	mine
First person plural	we	us	our	ours
Second person singular (and plural)	you	you	your	yours
Third person singular	he	him	his	his
	she	her	her	hers
	it	it	its	its (rare)
Third person plural	they	them	their	theirs

After a Linking Verb

Use the subject form of the pronoun after a linking verb, such as be.

Example

It was she who sent the bouquet.
[Many would choose to revise this sentence to sound less formal: She was the one who sent the bouquet.]

After a Verb and Before an Infinitive

Use an object pronoun after a verb and before an infinitive. When a sentence has only one object, this principle is easy to apply.

Example

The dean wanted him to lead the procession.

Difficulties occur with compound objects.

	Faulty	The dean wanted he and I to lead the procession.
	Revised	The dean wanted him and me to lead the procession.

In a Compound Subject or Object with and

Use subject and object pronouns in the correct form with compound subjects and objects joined by and.

Example

He and his sister invited my cousin and me to their party.
[subject = He and his sister; object = my cousin and me]

Do not rely on what sounds familiar, because nonstandard forms often occur with compound structures in speech.

To decide which pronoun form to use with a compound subject or object, mentally recast the sentence with only the pronoun in the subject or object position.

	Faulty	Jenny and me went to the movies.
	Revised	Jenny and I went to the movies. [If Jenny is dropped, you would say I went to the movies, not me went to the movies. Here you need the subject form, I.]
	Faulty	They told my brother and I to wait in line.
	Revised	They told my brother and me to wait in line. [If my brother is dropped, you would say They told me to wait in line. You need the object form, me. ]

After a Preposition

After a preposition, you need an object form.

Example

I started off rapping for people just like myself, people who were in awe of wealth and flash. It was a conversation between me and them.
—Ice-T, Observer, 27 October 1991.

The following sentences need editing:

	Faulty	Him and his brother waved to my mother and I.
	Revised	He and his brother waved to my mother and me.
	Faulty	Between you and I, the company is in serious trouble.
	Revised	Between you and me, the company is in serious trouble.

In Appositive Phrases and with we or us before a Noun

When using a pronoun in an appositive phrase (one that gives more specific information about a preceding noun), determine if the noun that the pronoun refers to functions as subject or object in its own clause.

Example

The supervisor praised only two employees, Ramon and me.

Description

Ramon and me = direct object: two employees

Example

Only two employees, Ramon and I, received a bonus.

Description

Ramon and I = subject: two employees

Similarly, when you consider whether to use we or us before a noun, use us when the pronoun is the direct object of a verb or preposition, we when it is the subject.

Example

The singer waved to us fans.

Description

object of preposition = us

Example

We fans have decided to form a club.

Description

subject = We

In Comparisons

When writing comparisons with than and as, decide on the subject or object form of the pronoun by mentally completing the meaning of the comparison. Then you can determine the grammatical function of the pronoun.

Examples

She is certainly not more intelligent than I.
[. . . not more intelligent than I am.]

Jack and Sally work in the same office; Jack criticizes his boss more than she.
[. . . more than she does.]

Jack and Sally work in the same office; Jack criticizes his boss more than her.
[. . . more than he criticizes Sally.]