The Case of the Pronoun

The Most Famous or Infamous Split Infinitive.

To boldly go where no one has gone before!

Johnny threw the ball to Frank HE threw the ball to HIM

As a Subject Subjective Case – I – He – She – They – We – You

I had been writing an excellent draft of the Lord of the Flies essay when it was eaten by my dog. We had been writing excellent drafts of the Lord of the Flies essay when they were eaten by our dogs.

As objects of the sentence Objective case: – Me – Him – Her – Them – Us – You

I had been writing an excellent draft of the Lord of the Flies essay when it was eaten by her. We had been writing excellent drafts of the Lord of the Flies essay when they were eaten by them.

As the subject of the sentence you NEVER use the objective case. The teacher and (she, her) argued about the test grade.

If the pronoun is used as the object of a prepositional phrase, always use the objective case. A bond of friendship developed between Sarah and (I, me).

Everybody: singular Anybody, anyone: singular Neither (singular) Someone, somebody (singular) Nobody (singular)

Who /Whom Who is the subject – “Who” does something Whom is the object of the verb – “whom” has something done to it Who ordered the pizza with extra anchovies? I ordered the pizza. Whom did Antonio wallop? Antonio walloped me.

A trick Replace the who/whom with he/him and see which one sound best! I wonder who/whom will be at baseball practice today.

A trick Replace the who/whom with he/him and see which one sound best! Who/whom is that for?

Nathan wouldn’t tell Miss Adelaide who/whom he invited to his poker game. Nathan invited only guys who/whom he thought played for high stakes.

Who, That, Which “Who” and “whom” refer to people “That” refers to things, animals, and people, but use “who” when referring to a specific person. Use “which” to refer to things and nonhuman characters but never people.

Lie and lay People lie on beds. He lies on his bed. A person picks up a dog and lays it on a blanket.

Lie: to rest Lie – Today I lie in bed Lay (Yes, the past tense of lie) – Yesterday I lay in bed. Lain – Many times I have lain in bed. Lying – Lying in bed all day is boring

Lay: to place something Lay – I lay the book on the counter Laid – Yesterday I laid the book in my coffee. Laid – Many times I have laid the book in liquids. Laying – Laying books in liquid is a bad habit.

Lie: to fib Lie Lied Lying