Pronoun Agreement

Pronouns come in many forms, but the two most troublesome forms are the subject form and the object forms. It is easy to mix up the two. Below are both groups and directions for when to use each.

SUBJECT Pronouns OBJECT Pronouns

I Me

She Her

He Him

We Us

They Them

Who Whom

Whoever Whomever

Note: “It” and “You” belong to both groups

USE SUBJECT PRONOUNS in the following cases:

I. In compound subjects (Ted and I (rather than me) are going to attend because both Ted and I are subjects of the sentence.)

II. Before and AFTER the forms of the verb TO BE (am, is, are, was, were, has been, have been). These are called linking verb sentences because the subject of the sentence is linked with a second name for the subject. The “link” is the form of the verb TO BE.

The customer who ate the tomato is she is correct because the customer and she are the same person. The linking verb is the TO BE verb IS.

The man in the disguise was he is correct because the man and he are the same person. The linking verb is the TO BE verb WAS.

III. After the words than and as

These can be tricky because there are understood verbs that control which pronoun to choose. In the sentences below, I have placed the understood verbs in parentheses. Note that each sentence reads correctly with or without the understood verb, but even if the understood verb is not written, it still decides which pronoun is correct.

I was a better swimmer than he (was).

Bob is taller than she (is).

We are just as qualified as they (are)

You know as well as I (do) that Jim is very strange.

USE OBJECT PRONOUNS in the following cases:

I. As objects of verbs

John told Bob and her the truth (her rather than she because Bob and her are objects of the verb told).

We gave Ralph and them the package (them rather than they because Ralph and them are objects of the verb gave).

II. After prepositions (object of prepositions)

I gave the book to Ted and him (him rather than he because Ted and him are objects of the preposition to)

This is between you and me (me rather than I because between is a preposition and you and me are its objects)

Commonly Used Prepositions

(If a pronoun is the object of a preposition, the correct form of the pronoun is the object form—please see the right-hand column above.)

about	at	by	like	through
above	before	during	near	throughout
across	behind	except	of	to
after	below	for	off	toward
against	beneath	from	on	under
among	beside	in	onto	until
around	between	inside	over	with
as	beyond	into	since	without