Personal Pronouns
Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns
| Subject |
Object |
| I |
Me |
| You |
You |
| He |
Him |
| She |
Her |
| It |
It |
| We |
Us |
| They |
Them |
We use subject pronouns as the subject of a verb
- I like your dress.
- You are late.
- He is my friend.
- It is raining.
- She is on holiday.
- We live in England.
- They come from London.
We use object pronouns as the object of a verb
- Can you help me, please?
- I can see you.
- She doesn't like him.
- I saw her in town today.
- We saw them in town yesterday, but they didn't see us.
and after prepositions:
- She is waiting for me.
- I'll get it for you.
- Give it to him.
- Why are you looking at her?
- Don't take it from us.
- I'll speak to them.
He, She and They
We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women.
When we are not sure if we are talking about a man or a woman,
we use they/them:
- This is Jack. He's my brother. I don't think you have met him.
- This is Angela. She's my sister. Have you met her before?
- You could go to a doctor. They might help you.
- Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
You and They
We use you to talk about people in general, including the speaker and the hearer:
- You can buy this book everywhere. = This book is on sale everywhere.
- You can't park here. = Parking is not allowed here.
We use they/them to talk about institutions and organisations:
- They serve good food here. (they = the restaurant)
- Ask them for a cheaper ticket. (them = the airline)
especially the government and the authorities:
- They don't let you smoke in here.
- They are going to increase taxes.
- They are building a new motorway.
- They say it’s going to rain tomorrow.
It
We use it to talk about ourselves:
- on the telephone: Hello. It's George.
- when other people cannot see us: It's me. It's Mary. (Mary is knocking on the door.)
We also use it to talk about other people:
- when we point people out for the first time
- Look. It's Paul McCartney.
- Who's that? I think it's John's brother.
- when we cannot see someone and we ask them for their name:
- Hello. Who is it? (someone answering the phone)
- Who is it? (someone about to answer the door)