Pronouns and reference

English (Précis and Composition) · Grammar · Nouns, pronouns and determiners. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

A pronoun changes its form with the job it does. The subject form (I, he, she, we, they, who) does the action. The object form (me, him, her, us, them, whom) comes after a verb or a preposition. So before you choose, find out what the pronoun is doing in its own clause.

When the pronoun is joined to another person (my friend and I / me), remove the other person and test the sentence again.

A pronoun must also point clearly to one noun, called its antecedent, and agree with it in number and gender. If 'he' or 'she' could mean two different people, the reference is unclear.

Rules to remember

Subject forms: I, he, she, we, they, who. Object forms: me, him, her, us, them, whom.
Test for who/whom: if the answer would be 'he', use who; if 'him', use whom.
After a preposition always use the object form: between you and me; to whom; for him and her.
its = belonging to it; it's = it is or it has. whose = belonging to whom; who's = who is.
Possessive pronouns take no apostrophe: mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs.
Reflexive forms (myself, himself, themselves) are used when subject and object are the same person; by himself = alone.
A pronoun agrees with its noun in number (the boys ... their; each boy ... his) and must point to one noun only.

Common mistake

Writing 'between you and I' or 'My brother and me went'. Remove the other person and test: 'me went' is clearly wrong, and a preposition such as 'between' always takes 'me'.

Worked example

Choose the pronoun: The manager invited my wife and ____ to the dinner. (I / me / myself)

Remove 'my wife and': 'The manager invited ____ to the dinner.'
The pronoun is the object of the verb 'invited', so the object form is needed.
'myself' is wrong because the subject is 'the manager', not 'I'.

Answer: me

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