Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns are the most readily recognizable. In fact, when asked to define what a pronoun is, most people won't bother to explain it, but instead will rattle off eight of the following nine subject personal pronouns. As students of grammar and composition, it's your business to know why a pronoun is a pronoun, and to be able to identify all pronoun types. However, in order to talk about pronoun case, the Personal Pronouns are the most effective examples.

Subject Pronouns (Nominative Case)

“Subject pronouns” are so called because they occupy only the subject of a clause. They include...

• I

• you

• he, she, it

• we

• you

• they

• who

Who knew they would be so late for the meeting you scheduled, that I would have to propose we move it to Friday?

Study Questions: In the example above, the word "it" hasn't been highlighted as a subject pronoun. Why not? What are the subject pronouns in the following sentence?

When you say it takes a village to raise children, it doesn't mean that we aren't all individually responsible for being good parents to them.

Noun Complement (Predicate Subject Case)

“Predicate Subject” or “Predicate Nominative” are other ways to describe complement nouns used with linking verbs that connect, or “link,” another noun or pronoun back to the main subject. (See the chapter on “Linking Verbs” for further info.) That’s why, whenever a linking verb complement is a pronoun, it should be a subject pronoun, not an object pronoun. For instance, when the guest of honor rings the doorbell at her own surprise party, you should say to your guests, “It’s she!” not "It is her." Technically speaking, such pronouns are not really subjects, but they act like subjects filling the space of predicates,which is why we refer to noun and pronoun complements as the "predicate nominative" or "predicate subject."

The man you saw taking your photo was I.
["I was the man you saw taking your photo"]

Object Pronouns (Accusative and Dative Cases)

The object pronouns are used as the objects of prepositions, and as the predicate objects of verbs and verbals, whether direct or indirect objects.

• me

• you

• him, her, it

• us

• you

• them

• whom

The manager from whom I obtained the application required me to
complete it right there and return it to her before the interview.

Study Questions: What are the object pronouns in the following sentence?

Whenever Roger invites her to spend time with him, he always
has tiger lilies waiting for her, even though he is allergic to them.

DIAGRAMMING SUBJECT AND OBJECT PRONOUNS

These cherries are delicious; we should put them into a pie.

DIAGRAMMING SUBJECT COMPLEMENT PRONOUNS

It was she who carelessly dented the fender.

PERSONAL POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

The personal possessive pronouns can be used either as subjects or as objects, direct or indirect. They function primarily to express the sense of the antecedent's ownership. With the exception of "mine" they all end in "-s".

Possessive Personal Pronouns (has aspect of the Genitive Case, but is used as, either, Subject or Object)

• mine

• yours

• his, hers, its

• ours

• yours

• theirs

• whose

Example:

“Whose are these?” you ask? These suitcases are my husband’s and mine, not yours, because all of ours have leather ID tags, and, if you study those suitcases closely, their tags are clearly plastic.

Study Questions: The italicized word "their" is not a Possessive Personal Pronoun in this sentence. Why? What are the possessive personal pronouns in the following sentence?

Theirs was an easy enough divorce: she demanded all of what was hers in the first place, and he agreed to give her half of what was never his to begin with.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Possessive adjectives are not pronouns, but they are bound by many of the same rules of agreement. With the exception of "my" and "his" they're identical to personal possessive pronouns, except that they drop the "-s" ending and, of course, are always followed by a noun they modify. The possessive adjectives are:

• my

• your

• his, her, its

• our

• your

• their

• whose

POSSESSIVE PRONOUN OR POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE?

Students frequently (and understandably) confuse possessive adjectives for personal possessive pronouns. After all, they look almost identical. In fact, two of them are identical. So, how do you tell them apart? Here are two simple tests you can conduct to determine which is which:

1. If the pronoun seems to answer the questions "Which?" "Whose?" or "What kind?" instead of "Who?" or "What?" then it's probably a possessive adjective and not a true pronoun.

His is the better souffle.
"His" answers the question, "What?"
Q. What is his? A. A souffle (a noun)

His souffle is better than mine.
"His" answers the question, "Whose?" or "Which"
Q. Which souffle? A. His souffle (an adjective)

2. Another way of determining if you have a personal possessive pronoun is if it takes, both, a possessive adjective and a noun to replace it.

Personal Possessive Pronoun:

Hers is the first office on the left.

Her office is the first office on the left.

DIAGRAMMING PERSONAL POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Just like any other pronoun, personal possessive pronouns go on horizontal lines and serve as subjects and objects. Possessive adjectives, like any other single-word modifier, go on diagonal lines under the nouns they modify.

We compared the fuel efficiency of our pick-up trucks, and mine bested his by an order of magnitude.