Subject pronouns vs. Object pronouns

[FairProspects]

Ok, I have to admit, this is the only part of Sentence Island that I don't really understand. Do these just have to be memorized as such?

 

I understand the concept that subjects of verbs and subject complements must be made up of subject pronouns and direct/indirect objects have to be made up of object pronouns, but is that all there is to it? Can someone explain why knowing the terminology or list matters? I have "caught" this part of grammar in that I can tell the difference in context, but I don't couldn't identify a pronoun as one or the other. Is there a book or something I can read that explains it better?

[Dana]

I think you'll see it more in the next level.

The memorization was also helpful for our work with Latin, so it'll be useful with foreign language.

I don't like how MCT says just memorize this list... instead, we made notecards like this (formatting won't work well here, so align things correctly mentally!)

 

Subject

singular plural

1st person: I we

2nd person: you you (y'all)

3rd person: he/she/it they

 

 

Object:

singular plural

1st me us

2nd you you (y'all)

3rd him/her/it them

 

It also was useful when talking about literature & point of view :)

[Tranquility7]

I've always been rather intuitive about subject and object pronoun usage also, but there are some grammar rules that seem tricky, but actually are not tricky at all if you actually understand subj/obj pronouns. For example, compound pronouns - Please go to the movies with John and I - or is it John and me? (yes) Use of who/whom is another one. Another frequent mistake is responding incorrectly on the phone when asked, "Is so-and-so there?" - with "Yes, this is her," instead of "Yes, this is she." Anyway, those are just a few examples, but I'm sure there are many others.

 

Also, memorizing them is not as hard as it might seem at first glance. I liked PP's chart. I do something similar, pretending I am conjugating a verb, so subject pronouns are as follows:

I love.

YOU love.

HE/SHE/IT loves.

WE love.

YOU/Y'ALL love.

THEY love.

 

and object pronouns are the object of love -

She loves ME.

She loves YOU.

She loves HIM/HER/IT.

She loves US.

She loves YOU/Y'ALL.

She loves THEM.

[Ellie]

Can the pronoun be the subject of a sentence? Then it's subjective. If not, then it's objective.

 

Would you say, "Him can go to the store"? No? Then "him" is objective. What would you say instead? "He can go to the store." Then "he" is subjective.

[Nicholas_mom]

Great thread....I was not clear on this, too. I am so glad you asked. :)

[FairProspects]

I think you'll see it more in the next level.

The memorization was also helpful for our work with Latin, so it'll be useful with foreign language.

I don't like how MCT says just memorize this list... instead, we made notecards like this (formatting won't work well here, so align things correctly mentally!)

 

Subject

singular plural

1st person: I we

2nd person: you you (y'all)

3rd person: he/she/it they

 

 

Object:

singular plural

1st me us

2nd you you (y'all)

3rd him/her/it them

 

It also was useful when talking about literature & point of view :)

 

Ok, this is incredibly helpful. I used the subject pronouns for years like this in Spanish, I just don't think I ever heard them called subject pronouns. It should be much easier to keep straight now. Thanks!

[morosophe]

I must admit, I learned these as a chant, and they stuck in my head pretty well that way, too. (I! You! He, She, It! We! You! They! Me! You! Him, Her, It! Us! You! Them!). We always finished up with the possessives, as well, voice climbing up to the last one in the singular and in the plural. (My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its! Our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs!)

 

It's really hard to explain a chant in writing. But I tried!