Level: beginner
We have both subject pronouns and object pronouns:
| Subject | Object |
|---|---|
| I | me |
| you | you |
| he | him |
| she | her |
| it | it |
| we | us |
| you | you |
| they | them |
We use subject pronouns as the subject of a verb:
I like your dress.
You are late.
He is my friend.
It is raining.
She is on holiday.
We live in England.
They come from London.
| Be careful! |
|---|
|
English clauses always have a subject.
The imperative, which is used for orders, invitations and requests, is an exception:
If there is no other subject, we use it or there. We call this a dummy subject. |
We use object pronouns as the object of a verb:
Can you help me, please?
I can see you.
She doesn't like him.
I saw her in town today.
We saw them in town yesterday, but they didn't see us.
and after prepositions:
She is waiting for me.
I'll get it for you.
Give it to him.
Why are you looking at her?
Don't take it from us.
I'll speak to them.
- Subject and object pronouns 1
- Subject and object pronouns 2
he, she and they
We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not sure if we are talking about a man or a woman, we use they/them:
This is Jack. He's my brother. I don't think you have met him.
This is Angela. She's my sister. Have you met her before?
You could go to a doctor. They might help you.
Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
- he, she and they 1
- he, she and they 2
you and they
We use you to talk about people in general, including the speaker and the hearer:
You can buy this book everywhere. = This book is on sale everywhere.
You can't park here. = Parking is not allowed here.
We use they/them to talk about institutions and organisations:
They serve good food here. (they = the restaurant)
Ask them for a cheaper ticket. (them = the airline)
especially the government and the authorities:
They don't let you smoke in here.
They are going to increase taxes.
They are building a new motorway.
They say it’s going to rain tomorrow.
- you and they 1
- you and they 2
it
We use it to talk about ourselves:
- on the telephone:
Hello. It's George.
- when other people cannot see us:
It's me. It's Mary. (Mary is knocking on the door.)
We also use it to talk about other people:
- when we point people out for the first time:
Look. It's Paul McCartney.
Who's that? I think it's John's brother.
- when we cannot see someone and we ask them for their name:
Hello. Who is it? (someone answering the phone)
Who is it? (someone about to answer the door)
Comments
thanks
I think there are two mistakes in the description, you used her/his to refer to ( women,men) which are proular an opposite way with they/them with singal.
We use he/him to refer to (men?) Is this right not man, and she/her to refer to (women?) Is this right not woman. When we are not sure if we are talking about a man or a woman we use they/them.
Hello again Dado,
I think I see what your question is now -- I'm sorry I didn't understand the first time. You are right that 'he' and 'him' can only refer to a singular man, but since they can refer to any man, we say 'men' on this page. I expect this sounds strange to you, but it is natural in English.
The same thing is true of 'she' and 'her' -- they are used to refer to only one woman, but since they can refer to any woman, we say 'women' in our explanation.
I hope I've answered your question now -- please let me know if not.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Dado,
Yes, that is right.
For men we use he/him
For women we use she/her
For things we use it
For people when we do not know the gender or do not want to specify a gender we use they/them.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Dado,
Thanks very much for taking the time to tell us about an error you found. Could you please explain in more detail where it is? I don't see the error you mention. Thanks in advance for your help.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
these are superb
1.One / A person should not drive car when (he/she )/they (is)/are drunk. - How to write this correctly?
2.If a person goes for shopping, the brand names which they know will automatically come up in their minds. - Here, just like previous sentence, initially it states about single person but with use of "they", the statement gets converted as if the subject was plural.
Hello akm,
When we want to speak in general terms and not specify the gender of the person we are talking about, we use 'they' with a plural verb. It is possible to write 'he or she' ('she or he') but this is rather clumsy, especially if we need to repeat it.
In your first sentence, therefore, I would use '...when they are drunk'. The second sentence is perfectly fine. It's quite normal to switch from 'a person' to 'they' in this way.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your guidance.
I would like to ask few more questions on above,
1. Can I use the same kind of structure (a person + they are) in IELTS essay?
2. In the second sentence, I have one more doubt - should I use "in their mind" / "in their minds"? Of course, the 2nd clause is now plural but if I write "in their mind" considering "a person" as the main subject I am referring to, then will it be considered a grammar mistake?
3. Will it be more appropriate to use "people" instead of "a person" in the second sentence to avoid handling gender ambiguity?
I also want to add that I really appreciate the lessons explained above which are very helpful because they are quite clear and thus, easy to understand.
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