Pronouns & Case
When Quentin Crisp told the people of Northern Ireland that he was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, “Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?” Hey, we don't need religious strife—we have who and whom to contend with. And that's not to mention all the rest of the pronouns. You've got to figure out how to use them correctly, too.
Here you'll learn about the grammatical role a pronoun plays in a sentence. Armed with this knowledge, you can use all pronouns—even the dreaded who and whom—correctly, with skill and confidence
Why Can't a Pronoun Be More Like a Noun?
Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Between you and I, pronouns drive myself crazy, and I bet they do yourself, too. A quick look at the disastrous last sentence and a brief survey of English explains why pronouns are more maddening than a hormone-crazed teenager.
Old English, like Latin, depended on word endings to express grammatical relationships. These endings are called inflections. For example, consider the Old English word for stone, “stan.” Study this chart.
Case ______________________ Word
Nominative and accusative singular ______________________ stan
Genitive singular ______________________ stane
Dative singular ______________________ stane
Nominative and accusative plural ______________________ stanas
Genitive plural ______________________ stana
Dative plural ______________________ stanum
Fortunately, contemporary English is greatly simplified from Old English. (Would I lie/lay to you?) Today, nouns remain the same in the nominative and accusative cases and inflect only for the possessive and the plural. Here's how our version of “stan” (stone) looks today: stone, stone's, stones, and stones'. Huh? Sounds like Greek? Not to worry. It will all be clear by the end of this section.
Pronouns, on the other hand, have retained more of their inflections, and more's the pity. The first-person pronoun, for example, can exist as I, me, mine, my, myself, we, us, our, ours, ourself, and ourselves—11 written forms! Because pronouns assume so many more forms than nouns, these otherwise adorable words can be a real pain in the butt.
Head Case OR The Three Cases
Case is the form of a noun or pronoun that shows how it is used in a sentence. English has three cases: nominative, objective, and possessive. The following chart shows the three cases.
Nominative ______________ Objective (Pronoun __________ Possessive
(Pronoun as Subject)______ Showing Object) ____________ (Pronoun as Ownership)
I ______________ me ______________ my, mine
you ______________ you ______________ your, yours
he ______________ him ______________ his
she ______________ her ______________ her, hers
it ______________ it ______________ its
we ______________ us ______________ our, ours
they ______________ them ______________ their, theirs
who ______________ whom ______________ whose
whoever ______________ whomever ______________ whoever
The Rules
Let's review the rules for using pronouns so these little words won't make you crazy as you write and speak.
1. Use the nominative case to show the subject of a verb. Remember that the subject is the noun or pronoun that performs the action of the verb.
Question: I know of no other person in the company who is as smarmy as (he, him.)
Answer: He is the subject of the understood verb is. Therefore, the sentence would read: “I know of no other person in the company who is as smarmy as he.”
Question: (Who, Whom) do you believe is the best writer?
Answer: Who is the subject of the verb is. Therefore, the sentence would read, “Who do you believe is the best writer?”
Of course, anything associated with grammar can't be that easy. Here's the exception to the rule you just learned: A pronoun used as the subject of an infinitive is in the objective case. For example: “Billy Bob expects Frankie Bob and (I, me) to make squirrel stew.” The correct pronoun here is me, because it is the subject of the infinitive to make.
2. A pronoun used as a predicate nominative is in the nominative case. A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun after some form of to be (is, was, might have been, and so on).
Predicate nominatives are the bad boys in the back row of homeroom because they equal trouble. Here's what I mean:
The verb to be, in all of its forms, is the same as an equal sign. Whatever comes before it (almost always a pronoun in the nominative case) must also follow it.
Question: It was (they, them) who first suggested getting the 90-pound puppy.
Answer: It was they who first suggested getting the 90-pound puppy.
3. Use the objective case to show that the noun or pronoun receives the action.
Question: (Who, Whom) can you send to help us?
Answer: Whom is the direct object of the verb can send. Therefore, the sentence should read: “Whom can you send to help us?”
Question: The taxidermist promised to notify Herman and (I, me) of his plans for the moose.
Answer: Me (together with Herman) is the object of the infinitive to notify. Therefore, the sentence should read: “The taxidermist promised to notify Herman and me of his plans for the moose.”
Question: It is always a pleasure for (we, us) employees to have a day-long meeting.
Answer: Here, us is the object of the preposition for. Therefore, the sentence should read: “It is always a pleasure for us employees to have a day-long meeting.”
Question: The Internet gave my sister and (I, me) some interesting ideas.
Answer: Me (together with my sister) is the indirect object of the verb gave. Therefore, the sentence should read: “The Internet gave my sister and me some interesting ideas.”
You can tell a word is an indirect object if you can insert to or for before it without changing the meaning. For example: The Internet gave (to) my sister and (to) me some interesting ideas.
4. A pronoun used in apposition with a noun is in the same case as the noun. An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed after another noun or pronoun to identify, explain, or rename it.
Question: Two bond traders, Alice and (she, her) were given bonuses large enough to buy their own banana republic.
Answer: The pronoun must be in the nominative case (she) because it is in apposition with the noun bond traders, which is in the nominative case. Therefore, the sentence should read: “Two bond traders, Alice and she, were given bonuses large enough to buy their own banana republic.”
5. Use the possessive case to show ownership.
Question: The manager refused to acknowledge that the memo was (her's, hers).
Answer: Hers is the correct spelling of the possessive case, which is needed her to express ownership (belonging to her). Therefore, the sentence should read: “The manager refused to acknowledge that the memo was hers.”
Be careful not to confuse possessive pronouns and contractions. To help you remember the difference, carve this chart into your desk at work.
6. Use the subjective case after linking verbs. Remember that a linking verb connects a subject to a word that renames it. This one actually makes perfect sense: Because a pronoun coming after a linking verb renames the subject, the pronoun must be in the subjective (nominative) case.
Question: The flasher of the month was (I, me).
Answer: Use I, because the pronoun renames the subject, the flasher of the month.
Question: The one who will benefit from this honor is they and (me, I).
Answer: Again, go with I, because the pronoun renames the subject.
Who Versus Whom
Contemporary writer and humorist Calvin Trillin once claimed, “Whom is a word invented to make everyone sound like a butler. Nobody who is not a butler has ever said it out loud without feeling just a little bit weird.”
Trillin isn't alone in his frustration with who/whom. More than half a century ago, a professor named Arthur H. Weston voiced his feelings over who/whom this way:
It's hard to devise an appropriate doom
For those who say who when they ought to say whom.
But it's even more hard to decide what to do
With those who say whom when they ought to say who.
No one will argue that who and whom are the most troublesome pronouns in English. Anyone who has ever grappled with who and whom might use stronger language than that. Here are some reasons why who/whom are so perplexing:
- Who is used as an interrogative pronoun in questions.
- Who is also used as a relative pronoun in complex sentences (see Sentences for more on this).
- Whoever is usually found only in complex sentences (again, see Sentences).
- Who knows how to use these suckers?
We can't do much about the national debt, frown lines, or those Mets, but we can straighten out who/whom use. Even though I discussed who/whom earlier in this section, these little words cause such distress that they deserve their own subsection.