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
Dear Sir
Could you explain me what a subject and object mean?
.
Thank you
Hello Muhammad Umar,
A subject is usually the person or thing doing the action of the verb. The object is usually the person or object that the action of the verb is being done to. For example, in 'She kissed her son', 'She' is the subject (the person kissing) and 'her son' is the object.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks
Hi everyone:)
I would like to ask you something.
I don't understand why the right answer of this exercise is "them" - "Have you talked to a lawyer? They can tell you your rights."
Why "they" - a lawyer is а singular.
Helo galiakacarska,
This is explained above:
Since lawyers can be men or women, people often use 'they'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
@Dear Kirk. "Thanks a Lot" for the explanation.
Hello,
Which form of the pronoun is correct after ‘like’ ?
Children like he should be taught...
Or
Children like him should be taught...
Regards,
Petals
Hello Petals,
In cases like these, 'like' is a preposition, and pronouns go in their object form after prepositions. Therefore, the correct sentence is the second one (with 'him').
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, everyone. I see some non-native learners find some difficulty about pronouns, but anyway, English pronouns are very "logical" and easy to grasp. Our language, Japanese are not logical, in a way since Japanese has no personal pronouns at all. I used to be a Japanese teacher for foreigners and we teach them "わたし(watashi)" is "I", but it is NOT, in fact. There are more words meaning "I" in Japanese and we use one of them depending on who speaks, where that person speaks, to whom that person speaks etc. We do not have one common pronoun as "I" in Japanese and this makes even us, native Japanese, confused in some cases. Best wisher for non-native English learners!
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