We learned yesterday that personal pronouns take the place of nouns.
Today we will separate the personal pronouns into subject pronouns and object pronouns.
The subject is the person or thing that does the action in a sentence.
Here are the subject pronouns: I, he, she, it, you, we, they
These subject pronouns always do the action.
I do something.
He does something.
She does something.
You do something.
We do something.
They do something.
Look at these sentence examples. Each subject pronoun is doing something.
I ate a carrot.
He drank some milk.
She dropped her book.
You took a walk.
We rode in the car.
They walked.
The object of a sentence is the person or thing that is being acted upon.
Here are the object pronouns: me, him, her, you, us, them
Something always happens to these object pronouns.
It happened to me.
It happened to him.
It happened to her.
It happened to you.
It happened to us.
It happened to them.
Look at these examples. In each sentence, something is happening to the object pronoun.
The dog barked at me.
Bob pushed him.
The teacher smiled at her.
The class cheered for you.
The guide showed us the cave.
The principal gave them awards.
Now look at these sentences. They have a compound object or subject.
Mom spoke to Tom and me.
Tom and I will help her.
Why do we use Tom and me in the first sentence and Tom and I in the second? Here’s a tip: When you have a compound subject or object, temporarily take away the proper noun to see which pronoun sounds correct.
In the first sentence, take away Tom. Mom spoke to ___. Would you say I or me? You say Mom spoke to me.
Therefore, you will also say Mom spoke to Tom and me.
Take away Tom in the second sentence. ___ will help her. Would you say I or me? You say I will help her.
Therefore, you will also say Tom and I will help her.
Whenever you are unsure about which personal pronoun to use in a sentence, ask yourself – Is the pronoun doing something, or is something happening to the pronoun? Remember: I did it. It happened to me. He did it. It happened to him. We did it. It happened to us. That trick can help you choose the correct personal pronoun.