Pronoun Case
Ü Case tells whether a pronoun shows possession or acts as subject or object in the sentence
Ü Writers use the following four terms
– Subjective
– Objective
– Possessive
– Reflexive
Possessive
Ü Possessive case means the pronoun shows ownership
– Possessive case pronouns do not use an apostrophe
– Example: The goldfish was ours, but Hal gave it to his cat.
– Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
Subjective
Ü Subjective case means the pronoun is a subject of the sentence (The doer of the action)
– Example: She gave her goldfish to the boy next door.
– I, you, he, she, we, they, who
Objective
Ü Objective case means the pronoun is an object of the sentence (the receiver of the action)
– Examples: Rebecca sent flowers to her. (Object of Preposition)
– Suzy phoned him tonight. (Object of Verb)
– Me, you, him, her, us, them, whom
Reflexive
Ü Reflexive pronouns are used 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
Usage Rules
Ü Use the subjective case at the beginning of sentences
– I/me hate grammar
Ü Use the subjective case after the verb “to be” (is, was, will be)
– It was he/him who called
Ü Use the subjective case after “as” or “than”
– My brother is more agile than I /me (am).
Usage Rules
Ü Reduce sentences to their simplest forms
– Rod and (I / me) ate three pizzas.
– Mother gave her crystal to Bob and (me/ I).
Ü Use the objective case after prepositions (joining words)
– Several of (us, we) girls are going to Cancun for our holidays in March.
Usage Rules
Ü 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.
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