On both the SAT and ACT, you’ll be required to know whether to use a subject pronoun or an object pronoun in a sentence. This article will teach you what those are and how to use them properly.
You probably know a pronoun replaces a noun, but do you know the difference between a subject pronoun and an object pronoun?
A subject pronoun—like I, you, he, she, who, we, and they—replaces a grammatical subject, taking the place of the person or thing doing the action.
Daniel Day-Lewis is a phenomenal actor.
He is a phenomenal actor.
Joe and Mike hiked up the mountain.
Joe and he hiked up the mountain.
An object pronoun, by contrast, replaces a grammatical object—something that’s not doing the action. Object pronouns include me, you, him, her, whom, us, and them.
The meeting between Jane and her assistant ran long.
The meeting between her and her assistant ran long.
In the sentence above, the subject is “meeting,” which gets the verb “ran.” Jane and her assistant are merely grammatical objects, so they require object pronouns like “her.”
Pro tip: “Between”—and all prepositions—always requires an object pronoun.
Can you spot the error here?
For we citizens, cost of living is an important issue.
Since the subject of the sentence is “cost,” and the verb is “is,” the citizens are mere objects here. “We” should be changed to “us.”
For us citizens, cost of living is an important issue.
To figure out which type of pronoun to use, ask yourself if the word that the pronoun replaces is performing the action of the sentence. If so, use a subject pronoun. If not, use an object pronoun.
One last example:
Can Miranda and me go to the party?
It’s “Miranda and I!” And no, you can’t go.
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