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
i would like to check my answers , is there any way ?
thanks a lot
Hello rashed4eng,
To check your answers first click the 'Finish' button at the bottom of each task, confirming with 'OK' if necessary. You will see your total score in a pop-up window. Once you close this, you can see which of your answers are correct and see the correct answers to the questions you got wrong by clicking 'Show Answers'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
You could go to a doctor. They might help you.
In my memory we use they/them when a subject/object is plural. But here the subject is single, a friend, a doctor. I'm confused. Could you please explain that?
Hello zenger62,
People often say 'they' to refer to a person when they don't know if that person is male or female. In the first sentence, since most people have both male and female friends and the sentence is general advice, 'they' is appropriate. In the second one, since doctors can be male or female and the speaker is not referring to a specific doctor, 'they' is appropriate.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi again zenger62,
'they' refers to one person in such a case. You can read more about singular 'they' on this Cambridge Dictionary page or this Wikipedia page if you're interested.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Sir,
Which pronouns can be filled in the following blanks?
"My baby's due next month. I hope __ will be a boy."
"What will you call __ if __ is a boy?"
Which answer is correct? it/it/it or it/him/it ?
Thank you
Hello shajing3724,
The correct answer here is 'it'. We generally avoid using 'it' for people apart from situations like this when we are talking about a baby as yet unborn (though if we already know the sex of the baby then we can use 'he' or 'she').
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
hello
sorry it made me confused.can we use they/them/they.because we dont know the baby is a male or female?
Hello mina66,
You make a good point, as we often use 'they' or 'them' to refer to a single person whose gender is unknown. In the case of babies, however, we say 'it'. As far as I know, there is no grammatical reason for this -- it is simply a question of usage. So in this case you should say 'it', not 'they'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Sir
Could you explain me what a subject and object mean?
.
Thank you
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