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
could you please solve my doubt?
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?
In these two sentences, you have highlighted only 'him' and 'her' as pronouns. The words 'he' and 'she' are also pronouns. isn't it?
thanks - apoline
Hello apoline,
You are correct that those are also pronouns. In the examples only certain pronouns are highlighted because we want to show which ones are good examples of the rule above. If we highlighted all of the pronouns I think the examples would be less clear.
I hope that clarifies it for you.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi apoline,
I think in those sentences "him" and "her" are the objects, no subjects.
thanks
wonderful site
In the last sentence ,
Where is Joanne. Have you see ____today?
I filled "them"as i dont know whether Joanne is male/female. It is showing "Her" in the answers.
Can anyone tell me why?
Hello ervipingupta,
You are correct that we use 'them' (they/their/theirs) when we do not know the gender of the person that we are talking about. 'Joanne' is always a female name in English, however, which is why 'her' is expected in the answer.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I understood everything
Hi
Thank you for useful information, especially information abou using they/them. I haven't known it before.
I couldn't understand the difference between subject and object prounouns.
In this sentence ___don't really like parties.I fill 'she' in it .but it is wrong why?
Hello laxmi89,
The problem here is not an issue of subject and object pronouns (you have chosen, correctly, a subject pronoun), but rather that 'she' is a third-person form and so needs to have the auxiliary for 'doesn't' rather than 'don't'. With the auxiliary 'don't' we can use 'I', 'you', 'we' or 'they'.
I hope that clarifies it for you.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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