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Pronoun Case
I or Me?
PRONOUN CASE DEPENDS
ON HOW THE PRONOUN IS
USED IN THE SENTENCE
IS IT THE SUBJECT?
Then use subjective case.
Subjective Case Pronouns
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Pronouns that function as a subject
They PERFORM the action of the
sentence.
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Bob practices his clarinet every day.
He practices his clarinet every day.
Marie was late getting the report finished.
She was late getting the report finished.
Subjective Case Pronouns
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Use subjective case pronouns for subject
complements.
A subject complement follows a linking
verb such as any form of the verb “to be.”
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The murderer was Professor Plum!
The murderer was he!
The following verbs are true
linking verbs:
Any form of the verb
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am
is
are
was
were
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be
has been
are being
might have been
become
seem
These true linking verbs are always linking verbs.
Subjective Case Pronouns
I
we
you
he
she
it
they
IS IT THE OBJECT?
Then use objective case.
Objective Case Pronouns
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Pronouns that function as a
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direct object
indirect object
object of a preposition
They RECEIVE the action of the verb
Examples:
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Direct object
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Indirect object
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Bruce found Tony and brought him to the
party.
Alice gave me a surprise party.
Object of a preposition
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If you see Ann, please give this note to her.
Special Note:
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Pet Peeve
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Let’s just keep this a secret between you and I.
Let’s just keep this a secret between you and
me.
What part of speech is BETWEEN?
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It’s a PREPOSITION!!
Correct answer: Let’s just keep it a secret
between you and me.
Objective Case Pronouns
me
you
him
her
it
us
them
DOES IT HAVE OWNERSHIP?
Then use possessive case.
Possessive Case Pronouns
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These are easy to identify!
They show ownership.
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My dog is Rover.
Leslie lost her ribbon.
The disk was left out of its case.
The boys left their books in the library.
Myron said the backpack is his.
The pen is mine.
Possessive Case Pronouns
my, mine
you, yours
his, her, its
our, ours
you, yours
their, theirs
The BIG Picture!
Subjective
Objective
Possessive
I
me
my, mine
you
you
you, yours
he, she, it him, her, it his, her, its
we
us
our, ours
them
they
their, theirs
This is Easy!!
SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Compound Word Groups
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Rita and she?
Rita and her?
Which one?
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You can analyze the sentence to decide if
the pronoun is a subject or an object.
OR
Use The TRICK!
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When a pronoun appears as part of a
compound word group, like X and Y,
mentally strip away all of the words in
the group except the pronoun.
Compound Word Groups
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Her and Rita went to the movie.
Try this: Her and Rita went to the movie.
Wrong!!
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She and Rita=subject of the sentence
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Requires subjective case pronoun
She and Rita went to the movie.
Compound Word Groups
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Mother baked a pie for John and I.
Get rid of everything but the pronoun:
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Mother baked a pie for I.
Wrong!!
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John and me=object of the preposition for
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Requires objective case pronoun
Mother baked a pie for John and me.
Appositives
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Appositives are words that rename nouns
or pronouns.
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We students like this class.
We like this class.
The teacher is stern but fair with us students.
The teacher is stern but fair with us.
Pronouns With than or as
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Sometimes verbs are omitted in
comparisons that use than or as.
To choose the correct pronoun, mentally fill
in the verb.
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Harold weighs more than I [weigh].
Sue’s brother is as tall as she [is].
Check this out!
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Sometimes both sentences can be correct.
The meaning changes depending on the
pronoun used.
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She is more afraid of the Great Dane than I.
She is more afraid of the Great Dane than I
[am].
She is more afraid of the Great Dane than me.
She is more afraid of the Great Dane than
[she is afraid of] me.
All the nitpicky items you’ll find on the ACT Test!
FINE TUNING
What’s a Linking Verb?
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Linking verbs do not express action.
Instead, they connect the subject of the
verb to additional information about the
subject. Look at the examples below:
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Keila is a shopaholic.
“Ising” isn't something that Keila can do. Is
connects the subject, Keila, to additional
information about her.
More Examples:
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During the afternoon, my cats are content
to nap on the couch.
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“Areing” isn't something that cats can do. Are
is connecting the subject, cats, to something
said about them.
After drinking the old milk, Bladimiro
turned green.
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Turned connects the subject, Bladimiro, to
something said about him.
You Guessed It!
More Examples:
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A ten-item quiz seems impossibly long
after a night of no studying.
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Seems connects the subject, a ten-item quiz, with
something said about it, that its difficulty depends on
preparation, not length.
Irene always feels sleepy after pigging out
on pizza from Antonio's.
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Feels connects the subject, Irene, to her state of
being, sleepiness.
The SOMETIME Crowd
The list of verbs with multiple personalities:
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appear
feel
grow
look
prove
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remain
smell
sound
taste
turn
Sometimes these verbs are linking verbs
Sometimes they are action verbs.
How do you tell when they are action
verbs and when they are linking verbs?
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If you can substitute am, is, or are and
the sentence still sounds logical, you have
a linking verb on your hands.
If, after the substitution, the sentence
makes no sense, you are dealing with an
action verb instead.
Here are some examples:
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Sylvia tasted the spicy squid eyeball stew.
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Sylvia is the stew? I don't think so!
Tasted, therefore, is an action verb in this
sentence, something Sylvia is doing.
The squid eyeball stew tasted good.
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The stew is good? You bet. Make your own!
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I smell the delicious aroma of a
mushroom and papaya pizza baking in the
oven.
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I am the aroma? No way! Smell, in this
sentence, is an action verb, something I am
doing.
The mushroom and papaya pizza smells
heavenly.
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The pizza is heavenly? Definitely! Try a slice!
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When my dog Oreo felt the wet grass
beneath her paws, she bolted up the
stairs and curled up on the couch.
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Oreo is the wet grass? Of course not! Here,
then, felt is an action verb, something Oreo is
doing.
My dog Oreo feels depressed after seven
straight days of rain.
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Oreo is depressed? Without a doubt! Oreo
hates the wet.
There’s ALWAYS an exception!
This substitution will not work for appear.
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With appear, you have to analyze the
function of the verb.
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Swooping out of the clear blue sky, the blue
jay appeared on the branch.
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Appear is something a blue jay can do—especially
when food is near.
The blue jay appeared happy to see the bird
feeder.
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Here, appeared is connecting the subject, the blue
jay, to its state of mind, happiness.
LET’S PRACTICE
1.
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Either the classrooms or the auditorium
must have _________ floor refinished.
their
its
Its
2.
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Every coat on this rack has outlived
_________ usefulness.
its
their
its
3.
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Tate George scored in the final two
seconds, and the crowd roared
________ approval.
their
its
its
4.
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When the committee submitted
_________ four versions of the
document, it was clear to us that the
committee members had acted as
individuals, not as a group.
its
their
their
5.
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Saul's brother left the matter entirely up
to _______ and _______ .
he --- I
him --- I
he --- me
him --- me
him --- me
6.
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_____ voters must learn to vote in our
own self interest.
We
Us
We
7.
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The voters have chosen _______ and
_______ to be their representatives.
she --- he
her --- him
her --- him
8.
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He didn't seem to care much about
______ voters.
we
us
us
9.
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I'm very tall, but guess what! My sister
is taller than _____ .
me
I
I
10.
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At first, I wanted to split the money
between Jo-Jo and ________ . I ended
up giving the money to ___________ .
myself --- me
me --- myself
I --- myself
me --- myself