I, he, and she are personal pronouns used when referring to a person as a subject of a sentence. Me, him, and her are alternate forms of the same personal pronouns, forms used while referring to a person as an object of a sentence. Many untrained writers (and speakers!) are often confused about which forms of the pronouns are called for. Example:
- She and I went to the ballgame.
or
- Me and her went to the ballgame.
“She and I went…” sounds a touch stilted. “Me and her went…” sounds correct as vernacular, however, the question is what to do, when the correct way (above) sounds wrong and the incorrect way (below) sounds right?
One way to double-check whether to use the object or subject form of the pronoun is to invert the statement into a question and, while answering, notice which forms ‘sound right’ in response. Example:
- Who went to the ball game?
Separate the pronouns into brief, declarative phrases when you answer, “Me did… Her did?” You are more likely to reply,
- “She did, I did.”
Therefore the correct construction is, “She and I went to the ballgame.”
Who vs. Whom
Who and whom are also inverse forms of essentially the same pronoun: interrogative pronouns, which are commonly used to denote a person or persons while asking a question. When referring to or used in place of a subject in a sentence, the correct form is who. Example:
- Who is the winner of the ballgame?
When referring to, or used in place of the object of a sentence, the correct form is whom. Example:
- Whom was the trophy awarded to?
A quick way to double-check this is to change the question to a statement, and check which form of singular personal pronoun fits. As in the examples given above:
- He/she is the winner of the ballgame. (he/she fits as a subject, as does who)
- The trophy was awarded to him/her. (him/her fits as an object, as does whom)
Taking a moment to think it through will make the rule second nature after a while and you will get it right.
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