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Noun and Pronoun Case

There are three commonly used cases (or sentence roles) that nouns and pronouns can take:

  1. Nominative

  2. Possessive

  3. Objective

nominative (“subject” case – noun renamed) – me, you, him, her, it, them, us

Use the nominative case for personal pronouns with compound subjects. If the subject consists of one or more nouns of her, it is a compound subject.

example:

Pace and I worked on the project together.

She and Dacia have been friends for a long time. Use the nominative case for pronouns that are the subject of incomplete sentences (silent verbs complete the sentence). Completing the sentence moves you to the correct case of the pronoun.

example:

No one in the classroom was as surprised as I was.

He worked longer than she (worked) today.

Use the nominative case for pronouns that directly rename the subject previously mentioned in a sentence or paragraph. example:

Padma recently graduated from college. She is currently completing her degree in Nursing

Zahra and I went on vacation with her family. Afterwards, we got together and talked about all the fun we had.

Possessive (“possession” case – denoting possession) – mine, our, your, his her/her, her

Use possessive pronouns before gerunds.

A gerund is an ing verb ending that functions as a noun.

example:

Her songs were often praised.

The class was shocked to find him studying for exams. example:

Richard loves his hot dogs. (This is the third person singular for agreeing with Richard, not the third person plural [her] for agreeing with hot dogs.)

Goal (For "object": act as the object of direct or indirect action in the sentence) – I, we, you, him, her, that, they

If the pronoun is the object of the verb, use the object case.

example:

A big dog chased me down the street. (What/who was hunted? Me.)

The teacher gave them a passing grade. (Who did the teacher give a passing grade to? You.)

If the pronoun is the object of the preposition, use the object case.

example:

Galadriel sent me a letter. (Who did Galadriel deliver the letter to? Me. I is the prepositional object of to.

A preposition is a word such as "of" or "before" that establishes a relationship between an object and another part of a sentence, often expressing a place or place in time. (See Subject/Verb Agreement for a list of some common prepositions.)

example:

Bach received the greatest support from you and me.

Paper fluttered on the ground in front of me.

The monkey turned to face him through the grate of the cage.

A

Noun and Pronoun Case

There are three commonly used cases (or sentence roles) that nouns and pronouns can take:

  1. Nominative

  2. Possessive

  3. Objective

nominative (“subject” case – noun renamed) – me, you, him, her, it, them, us

Use the nominative case for personal pronouns with compound subjects. If the subject consists of one or more nouns of her, it is a compound subject.

example:

Pace and I worked on the project together.

She and Dacia have been friends for a long time. Use the nominative case for pronouns that are the subject of incomplete sentences (silent verbs complete the sentence). Completing the sentence moves you to the correct case of the pronoun.

example:

No one in the classroom was as surprised as I was.

He worked longer than she (worked) today.

Use the nominative case for pronouns that directly rename the subject previously mentioned in a sentence or paragraph. example:

Padma recently graduated from college. She is currently completing her degree in Nursing

Zahra and I went on vacation with her family. Afterwards, we got together and talked about all the fun we had.

Possessive (“possession” case – denoting possession) – mine, our, your, his her/her, her

Use possessive pronouns before gerunds.

A gerund is an ing verb ending that functions as a noun.

example:

Her songs were often praised.

The class was shocked to find him studying for exams. example:

Richard loves his hot dogs. (This is the third person singular for agreeing with Richard, not the third person plural [her] for agreeing with hot dogs.)

Goal (For "object": act as the object of direct or indirect action in the sentence) – I, we, you, him, her, that, they

If the pronoun is the object of the verb, use the object case.

example:

A big dog chased me down the street. (What/who was hunted? Me.)

The teacher gave them a passing grade. (Who did the teacher give a passing grade to? You.)

If the pronoun is the object of the preposition, use the object case.

example:

Galadriel sent me a letter. (Who did Galadriel deliver the letter to? Me. I is the prepositional object of to.

A preposition is a word such as "of" or "before" that establishes a relationship between an object and another part of a sentence, often expressing a place or place in time. (See Subject/Verb Agreement for a list of some common prepositions.)

example:

Bach received the greatest support from you and me.

Paper fluttered on the ground in front of me.

The monkey turned to face him through the grate of the cage.