PERSONAL PRONOUNS

English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Three fundamental cases have been identified for personal pronouns thus:
The *subjective case*: I, we, you, he, she, it and they.

The *objective case*: me, us, you, him, her, it and them.

The *possessive case*: mine, ours, yours, his, hers, its and theirs.

Rules of Usage
1. The subjective forms are used in the position of the subject, which is otherwise regarded as the performer of an action:
Him changed one thousand naira for five two hundreds (standard).
He changed one thousand naira for five two hundreds (nonstandard).

2. The objective forms are used after main (transitive verbs):
I know you and he (nonstandard).
I know you and him (standard).

3. the subjective form is also used in the subject complement position. Subject complements are simply nouns or pronouns that refer to the subject, and they succeed linking verbs such as *is, are, am, was, were and seem*:
It was her (who did it) (nonstandard).
It was she (who did it)(standard).
GAB