Pronoun Problems

Including the Universal English favorite: who/whom

Pronoun Forms

Subject Pronouns (subjective case) Do the action: I/we you he, she, it/they, who

Object Pronouns (objective case) Receive action: me/us you him, her, it/them,whom

Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns (possessive case) Show ownership: my/our your his, her, its/their, whose

mine/ours, yours, hers, theirs, whose

Demonstrative Pronouns Point out: this, these, that, those

How the forms work: Subject forms: (Do the action)

I said We said You said He, she, it saidThey said Who said?

Object forms: (Receive the action) Jane told me/us. For me/us Jane told you. For you Jane told him/her/it/them. For him/her/it/them Jane told whom? For whom

Problems: when combined with other pronouns, nouns Jim, Tom, Jerry and I went, too. He, Mary and Jill left. I told Jim and him. Give it to Jim and them. We seniors wanted a day off. Bake it for us seniors.

Subjective ComplementWhen the complete verb is one of the following: be, am,

is, are, was, were, being, been, the verb is nothing but an = sign. (appeared to be, seemed are the same.)

She is a nurse. He is cool.

The pronoun, then, is the same as if it were subject. It is he. This is she. It was I. It must have been they. It appeared to be she.

Understood Verbs As fast as I (am fast). Faster than I (am).

Agreement with AntecedentsPronouns agree in number to the word to

which they refer: Everybody took his umbrella. Everyone left his overcoat. Anyone who left his/her backpack….

The dreaded who/whom Subject: who/whoever

Who was there?

The man who knew the President…

Object: whom/whomever

Whom did she like?

The man whom the President knew…

This works 90% of the time: I told the guy who has a crush on Mary. Look at the word following the who/whom. If the word is a verb=who is the subject If the word is a noun or pronoun=whom is the object;

that noun or pronoun is the subjectExamples: She knew the girl who sold us the tickets.

I don’t know who’s going to take her.She doesn’t know whom she’s going to take.Take whomever you wish.

The other 10%Here are important EXCEPTIONS: The verb following the who/whom is am, is, are,

was, were, been, being (not helpers—no action portion of the verb); then choose who:I know who she is. Did you know who he was?

Questions: the noun/pronoun will be between the who/whom and the ACTION portion of the verb:Whom did she choose? Verb=did chooseWhom was she going to invite? Verb=was going

More Exceptions for the Intelligent

One (some, #, all, etc) of whom---The stockbrokers, one of whom was rich, knew.

The prizewinners, one of whom she knew, returned the money

Parenthetical insertions of I thought, I knew, etc. between subject and verb:Who did you say chose the winners?

Who did you think really won?

The people who I thought knew the President…