Pronoun Cases

Here’s the idea: Personal pronouns take different forms depending on how they’re used in sentences. The form of a pronoun is called its CASE. There are three pronoun cases: nominative, objective, and possessive. The chart on the following slide lists all of the personal pronouns and organizes them by case, number, and person.

Personal Pronouns Nominative Objective Possessive Singular First person Second person Third person I You He, she, it Me Him, her, it My, mine You, yours His, her, hers, its Plural First Person We They Us Them Our, ours Your, yours Their, theirs

Why does this matter? When writers create first person dialogue in a narrative, they use all forms of pronouns, just as people do when they speak. Notice how many pronouns are used in the following excerpt from “The Odyssey”: I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger flare and yelled: Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s in Ithaca! -Homer, “The Odyssey”

Nominative and Objective Case Personal pronouns change their case depending on whether they function as subjects or objects. Nominative Case Personal pronouns that function as subjects or as predicate nominatives are in the nominative case. EX: I like the legends of King Arthur. He united the knights. The words “I” and “He” are both functioning as subjects.

Nominative Case Be particularly careful to use the nominative case when the pronoun is part of a compound subject. EX: Queen Guinevere and he were wife and husband. The subject, “Queen Guinevere and he” is compound. A predicate pronoun also takes the nominative case. A predicate pronoun follows a linking verb and renames the subject of a sentence. EX: It was he who gathered the knights of the round table. “He” is a predicate pronoun that renames the subject “It”.

Nominative Pronoun Forms First Person Second Person Third Person Singular I You He, she, it Plural We They

Objective Case Personal pronouns that function as direct objects, indirect objects, or the objects of prepositions are in the objective case. EX: Merlin the Wizard, Arthur’s friend, helped him. “Him” is the direct object. Merlin gave him loyalty. “Him” is the indirect object. Most of Arthur’s knights were also loyal to him. “Him” is the object of the preposition.

Objective Case Also use the objective case of the pronoun when it is a part of a compound object construction. EX: The knights pledged allegiance to both Guinevere and him. “Guinevere and him” is the compound object of the preposition “to”. Objective Pronoun Forms: First Person Second Person Third Person Singular Me You Him, her, it Plural Us them

Compound Construction To make sure you are using the correct case in a compound construction, look at each part separately. EX: Lancelot loved both Arthur and (she, her). (She, Her) and Arthur both loved Lancelot. Try each pronoun from the compound construction alone in the sentence. Lancelot loved she. -> Lancelot loved her. She loved Lancelot. -> Her loved Lancelot. Choose the correct case for the sentence. Lancelot loved both Arthur and her. She and Arthur both loved Lancelot.

Practice Choose the correct form from the pronouns in parenthesis. 1. Although King Arthur is a legendary hero, (he, him) probably existed as a real person as well. 2. While historians think that a real King Arthur existed, (they, them) know little about him. 3. It is (them, they) who say that his legend may be based on a real leader from the fifth or sixth century.