1. Pronoun Case  Les Hanson 2002

2. Pronoun Case  Case tells whether a pronoun shows possession or acts as subject or object in the sentence  Writers use the following four terms Subjective Objective Possessive Reflexive

3. Subjective  Use the subjective case when the pronoun is either the subject or the complement of the sentence (The doer of the action) She gave her goldfish to the boy next door. It was he who called me a bad name. I, you, he, she, we, they, who

4. Use the Subjective Case  At the beginning of sentences I /me hate grammar  After any form of the verb “to be” (is, was, will be) The one who ate the most pizza is he/ him.  When referring to the subject of an implied clause following “as” or “than” My brother is more agile than I / me ( am ).

5. Objective  Use the objective case when the pronoun is an object of the sentence (the receiver of the action) Arnold sent flowers to her. (Object of Preposition) Betty phoned him tonight. (Object of Verb) Alex hates Garth more than (he hates) me. (Object in an implied clause) Me, you, him, her, us, them, whom

6. Use the Objective Case  After action verbs Arnold bought ( her, she ) a new toaster  After prepositions (joining words) Several of ( us, we ) girls are going to Cancun for our holidays in March

7. Possessive  Use possessive case pronouns to show ownership Possessive case pronouns do not use an apostrophe Example: The goldfish was ours, but Sam gave it to his cat. Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

8. Use the Possessive Case  With words that modify gerunds (a gerund is an ing word that functions as a noun) I knew that ( his / him / he ) smoking in the toilet would make the flight attendants angry. The chances of our / we / us winning the World Cup are not very good

9. Reflexive  Use reflexive pronouns when one pronoun has already been used to refer to someone He hit himself with a hammer She bought herself a new car Myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves

10. Using the Reflexive Case  Only use the reflexive if the other cases do not work The minister and me/ myself/ I toured the mill. He kept looking at he/ him/ himself in the mirror.

11. Rules of Thumb  Don’t automatically use the word “I” at the end of sentences  John spread the virus to Martha and I John spread the virus to Martha and me  Reduce sentences to their simplest forms Rod and (I / me) ate three pizzas (I / me) ate three pizzas (delete the words “Rod and”) I / me ate three pizzas Rod and I ate three pizzas (replace the words “Rod and”)

12. Mini Quiz  1. The teacher gave Julie and (I, me) an A on our project.  2. Kevin has always been taller than (I, me).  3. My mother bought the teacher and (her, she) a present.  4. Laura and (him, he) went to the dance.  5. The one with the most tokens is (she, her).  6. My sister is smarter than (I, me).  7. (His, he) joining the military was a good choice.

13.  For 8 – 10, circle each pronoun and label it subjective, objective, or possessive.  8. Their car was towed because it was illegally parked.  9. They decided it was our responsibility to pay for their mistake.  10. He gave my sister and me terrible news on our birthday.