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Subject, Object, and Possessive Pronouns

Lesson 1 Subject, Object, and Possessive Pronouns

Essential Question

How do we know which pronouns to use when we communicate?

Grammar in the World

pronoun comic

That just doesn’t sound right, does it? But how do you know which pronoun to use so that it would sound correct? That’s where knowing what subject, object, and possessive pronouns are and how they are used within the structure of a sentence can help.

Our goal in communication is to translate our ideas into words, phrases, and sentences that make sense and that articulate the ideas we want to get across. Pronouns help us communicate in such a way that our sentences flow smoothly. It’s important, though, to know which pronouns to use in which context. Read the following paragraph.

What Do I Know?

What do you know about subject, object, and possessive pronouns? Take this quiz to find out.

Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time. It is also helpful to see how each skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

Learn About Subject, Object, and Possessive Pronouns

Before we learn the differences between subject, object, and possessive pronouns, first watch this video about subject and object pronouns:

Video: Subject and Object Pronouns

Source: Shmoop

Video transcript

[Theme music]

Subject + object pronouns, a la Shmoop. Tall Jim and Joan will take Bella and Della

00:10

to see Burt and Stinky Jim.

00:12

Wow, that's a lot of names to sort through. Let's clean this sentence up a bit. And

00:17

then... maybe we'll clean up Stinky Jim...

00:19

They will take them to see Burt and Stinky Jim.

00:23

In grammar, pronouns like "they" and "them" can be used to stand in for nouns.

00:28

However, some pronouns only work as subjects, while other pronouns only work as objects.

00:34

In a sentence, a subject performs an action...

00:37

...while the action in a sentence happens to an object.

00:41

Trying to make an object pronoun the subject of a sentence or a subject pronoun the object

00:44

of a sentence...

00:45

...is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

00:47

Let's look at some examples of pronoun placement gone terribly awry. Say we have the sentence,

00:53

"Him went to the grocery store to stock up on candy canes."

00:57

"Him" is an object pronoun. It can't be the subject of our sentence. So, let's

01:02

change things up a bit.

01:03

"He went to the grocery store to stock up on candy canes."

01:06

"He" is a subject pronoun, so it fits perfectly into our example.

01:11

Here's another sentence: "Them took they cow tipping."

01:18

Looks like someone got their pronouns switched. It might have been that poor, startled cow.

01:23

As "them" is an object pronoun and "they" is a subject pronoun, this sentence should

01:28

read, "They took them cow tipping." From our examples, we know that subject pronouns

01:36

are completely different from object pronouns.

01:40

Subject pronouns include the words "I", "he", "she", "they", and "we".

01:45

Object pronouns include the words "me", "him", "her", "them", and "us".

01:49

However, there's one word that can serve as either a subject pronoun or an object pronoun...

01:55

...the word "you". Say we have the sentence, "You went for

01:59

a swim in the very cold ocean."

02:00

Here, the word "you" is a subject pronoun.

02:04

But what if we have this sentence? "Brad forced you to swim in the very cold ocean."

02:08

This time, the "you" is an object pronoun. The other amazing thing about the word "you"

02:14

is that it can be singular...

02:15

...as we saw in our two previous examples...

02:17

...or plural. What does this mean? "You" can stand in for one person...

02:22

...or many people. Say a tour guide is leading her group of twenty

02:26

tourists around Pamplona, and she tells them, "Watch out! You don't want to get run

02:31

over by a bull!"

02:33

In this example, the "you" isn't just a subject pronoun...

02:37

...it's a plural subject pronoun.

02:42

Say our tour guide is driving her horde through Barcelona, and she tells them, "Now I'll

02:47

show you the part of town where the pickpockets live."

02:52

In this example, the "you" isn't just an object pronoun...

02:55

...it's a plural object pronoun. We've been over the basics of subject and

02:59

object pronouns, but what happens when we have more than one person as the subject or

03:03

object of a sentence?

03:05

What happens... is that people get confused and switch their pronouns around.

03:08

Say we have the sentence, "Lisa and me ate an entire gallon of chocolate chip cookie

03:13

dough ice cream."

03:13

"Me" doesn't belong as a subject of this sentence; it's an object pronoun.

03:17

Instead, our sentence should read, "Lisa and I ate an entire gallon of chocolate chip

03:22

cookie dough ice cream."

03:24

The grammar in our example is now correct...

03:26

...even if the decision to pack away so many calories wasn't.

03:30

Or say we have the sentence, "Grandma gave she and Tom ugly sweaters for their birthdays."

03:35

"She" is a subject pronoun; it doesn't belong as an object of this sentence.

03:40

Our sentence should read, "Grandma gave her and Tom ugly sweaters for their birthdays."

03:44

Yay, correct grammar! Boo, poor gift choice! Just because a sentence has two people as

03:49

subjects or two people as objects...doesn't mean we should get so turned around that we

03:53

mix up our pronouns.

03:54

To keep poor grammar at bay, just remember this tip...

03:57

...when faced with a sentence with multiple subjects or objects, narrow the subjects or

04:02

objects down to one...

04:04

...in order to select the correct subject pronoun or object pronoun.

04:07

For example, say we have the sentence, "John and I-slash-me went to the rave last night."

04:13

If John's presence scrambles the brain, just kick him out of the sentence for a moment.

04:18

This leaves us with, "I-slash-me went to the rave last night."

04:21

"I" is a subject pronoun, so that's the pronoun we want in this sentence, instead

04:27

of the object pronoun "me".

04:30

So, the sentence in its entirety should read, "John and I went to the rave last night."

04:37

There's one last thing we need to know about subject and object pronouns...

04:41

...whenever a pronoun is part of a prepositional phrase, we always use an object pronoun...

04:46

...never a subject pronoun.

04:49

Just to review, prepositions normally describe relationships or show possession...

04:53

...and some examples of prepositions include the words "between", "above", "including",

04:58

and "over". Say we have the sentence, "We'll keep

05:01

this secret between you and me."

05:03

Our prepositional phrase in this example is "between you and me"...

05:07

...and "you" and "me" are object pronouns.

05:09

We would never say, "We'll keep this secret between you and I"...

05:13

...because "I" is a subject pronoun.

05:17

Or say we have the sentence, "Bill was so angry he threw the lamp at her."

05:20

Here, "at her" is our prepositional phrase...

05:23

...and we use "her" because it's an object pronoun.

05:26

We would never say, "Bill was so angry he threw the lamp at she"...

05:30

...because "she" is a subject pronoun. There may be a lot of rules about subject

05:36

and object pronouns...

05:37

...but the most important thing to remember is that some pronouns only work as subjects...

05:41

...while other pronouns only work as objects...

05:43

...and never the twain shall meet.

Now, let’s dig deeper into these different types of pronouns, starting with subject pronouns.

Subject pronouns
Object pronouns
Possessive pronouns

A subject pronoun is a pronoun that replaces a previously introduced noun (known as the antecedent) as the subject of a sentence. (Remember: a subject is the person or thing working with the verb to describe the main idea of a sentence.)

Subject Pronoun	Example
I	My name is Jill. I love grammar. (“I” has the antecedent “Jill.”)
you	You won first place in the photography competition! (“You” replaces the name of the addressed person or people.)
he/she	Mirella’s birthday is tomorrow. She wants to go to a sushi restaurant to celebrate. “She” has the antecedent “Mirella.”
it	Could you please put the chocolate cake on the counter? We can eat it after we have dinner. “It” has the antecedent “cake.”
we	Matt and I are going to go on a walk. We made a New Year’s resolution to get more exercise. "We" has the antecedent "Matt and I."
they	I love the smell of those flowers, but they are making me sneeze. “They” has the antecedent “flowers.”

While a subject pronoun works with the verb to describe the main idea of a sentence, an object pronoun can receive the action of the verb or follow a preposition.

Object Pronoun	Example
me	Can you please get a soda for me out of the refrigerator? “Me” replaces the speaker's name.
you	Kent wants to meet up with you to play basketball after you do your homework. “You” replaces the addressed person's name.
him/her/them	Jake asked Sarah to go on a date with him. “Him” has the antecedent “Jake.”
it	The fireplace radiated with a cozy glow. We enjoyed playing games beside it on cold winter evenings. “It” has as antecedent “fireplace.”
us	The barista always puts extra shots of espresso in the lattes she makes for Alyssa and me. I think she likes us. “Us” refers to “Alyssa and the speaker.”
them	Sadie likes watching comedies on the weekend. She watches them to help her unwind after a stressful week. “Them” has as antecedent “comedies.”

Remember: Object pronouns receive the action of the verb or follow a preposition.

We still have another type of pronoun to learn about: possessive pronouns. If subject pronouns are subjects and object pronouns are objects, possessive pronouns show ownership or possession.

Here is a short video that explains possessive pronouns:

Possessive Pronoun	Examples
my/ mine	The bruschetta on the table is mine (i.e. my bruschetta).
your(s)	The chips and salsa on the table are yours (i.e. your chips and salsa).
his/her(s)	The nachos on the table are his (i.e. his nachos).
its	The tree shook its leaves (i.e. the tree's leaves).
our(s)	The basket of chicken wings on the table is ours (i.e. our basket.)
their(s)	The French fries on the table are theirs (i.e. their French fries).

Grammar Moment: Its vs. It's

We often think of "its" as a possessive pronoun. For example, “The barbecue wing dipped its sauce all over my shirt.” However, the word “its” in this instance is actually a possessive adjective (modifying the noun “sauce”) rather than a pronoun. It’s really easy to confuse the use of “its” and “it’s,” though, so let’s pause a moment just to review when to use “it’s” and when to use “its.”

The word “it’s” is a contraction for “it is” – It’s a beautiful day.

The word “its” is a possessive adjective – The tree shook its leaves.

Whenever you are not sure whether to write “it’s” or “its,” just ask yourself if the sentence would make sense if you changed “it’s” to “it is.” If so, then use the contraction: it’s. If not, then just write “its.”

Do I Get It?

As a review, let’s put the pronouns all together:

Types of Pronouns
Subject	Object	Possessive
I	me	my/mine
you	you	your(s)
he/she	him/her	his/her(s)
it	it	its
we	us	our(s)
they	them	their(s)