A subjective pronoun(as discussed in this video) is when a pronoun acts as the subject of a sentence; in other words, when the pronoun is doing the verb (action), or it is the main thing in the sentence.

Subjective pronouns are : I, we, you, he, she, they, it, and who.

An objective pronoun(as discussed in this video) is when a pronoun acts as the object of a verb (receives the action) or of a preposition.

Objective pronouns are: me, us, you, him, her, them, it, and whom.

If you understand the above properly, you’d rarely have a problem with pronouns.

Let’s practice:

Which of the following is correct?

                  My boss and I had a fight today.

                  My boss and me had a fight today.

 

                  My mom gave my sister and me a present.

                  My mom gave my sister and I a present.

 

                  There was a fight between my  boss and me today.

                  There was a fight between my boss and I today.

 

In each case, the first sentence is correct. There are two ways to correct them:

  1. through grammar
  2. through sound.

 

1stmethod: Identify the verbs in each: fight,gave, and was.

In the 1stsentence the 1stperson pronoun is the subject of fight. So, it should take subjective case.

In the 2ndsentence the 1stperson is the object of gave. So, it should take objective case.

In the 3rdsentence the 1stperson is the object of the preposition between; so objective case.

 

2ndmethod: The confusion arises because there are two things in each sentence; remove one, and just look at – or hear – the pronoun in isolation. So:

                  I had a fight today.

                  My mom gave me a present.

                  There was a fight between me…