Ch 4

Pronouns

Subject and object pronouns

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns do the action of the verb. They come before the verb.

I
first person singular — I am a student.
you
second person — singular AND plural — You are right.
he / she / it
third person singular — She is here.
we
first person plural — We are friends.
they
third person plural — They are tired.
Always capitalise "I" — it's the only single-letter word that takes a capital in English.

Object pronouns

Object pronouns receive the action — they come AFTER the verb

Subject  →  Object
I  →  me
She loves me.
you  →  you
I see you. (same word)
he  →  him
I called him.
she  →  her
I met her.
it  →  it
I bought it. (same word)
we  →  us
They invited us.
they  →  them
I helped them.

Subject or object?

Position in the sentence tells you which to use

✓ Subject (before verb)
She likes pizza.
They are my friends.
We live in Spain.
Object (after verb)
I called her.
They know us.
She helped me.

After prepositions

Always use the object form after a preposition (to, for, with, from, about)

to + object
She gave it to me. (NOT to I)
with + object
Come with us. (NOT with we)
for + object
This is for him. (NOT for he)
about + object
We talked about them. (NOT about they)

Common mistakes

He gave it to I.
He gave it to me.
After "to" → object pronoun
Me and her are friends.
She and I are friends.
Subject pronouns before the verb
She loves I.
She loves me.
After the verb → object
Us are happy.
We are happy.
Subject of the verb → we

Recap

Subject
I · you · he · she · it · we · they
She is happy.
Object
me · you · him · her · it · us · them
I saw her.
After preposition
always object form
Come with me.
Same form
you · it
subject and object identical
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