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Pronoun Problems. Including the Universal English favorite: who/whom. Pronoun Forms. Subject Pronouns (subjective case) Do the action: I/we you he, she, it/they, who Object Pronouns (objective case) Receive action: me/us you him, her, it/them,whom
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Pronoun Problems Including the Universal English favorite: who/whom
Pronoun Forms Subject Pronouns (subjective case) • Do the action: I/we you he, she, it/they, who Object Pronouns (objective case) • Receive action: me/us you him, her, it/them,whom Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns (possessive case) • Show ownership: my/our your his, her, its/their, whose mine/ours, yours, hers, theirs, whose Demonstrative Pronouns • Point out: this, these, that, those
How the forms work: • Subject forms: (Do the action) • I said We said • You said • He, she, it said They said • Who said? • Object forms: (Receive the action) • Jane told me/us. For me/us • Jane told you. For you • Jane told him/her/it/them. For him/her/it/them • Jane told whom? For whom
Problems: when combined with other pronouns, nouns • Jim, Tom, Jerry and I went, too. • He, Mary and Jill left. • I told Jim and him. • Give it to Jim and them. • We seniors wanted a day off. • Bake it for us seniors.
Subjective Complement When the complete verb is one of the following: be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been, the verb is nothing but an = sign. (appeared to be, seemed are the same.) She is a nurse. He is cool. The pronoun, then, is the same as if it were subject. • It is he. • This is she. • It was I. • It must have been they. • It appeared to be she.
Understood Verbs • As fast as I (am fast). • Faster than I (am).
Agreement with Antecedents Pronouns agree in number to the word to which they refer: • Everybody took his umbrella. • Everyone left his overcoat. • Anyone who left his/her backpack….
The dreaded who/whom • Subject: who/whoever Who was there? The man who knew the President… Object: whom/whomever Whom did she like? The man whom the President knew…
This works 90% of the time: I told the guy who has a crush on Mary. • Look at the word following the who/whom. • If the word is a verb=who is the subject • If the word is a noun or pronoun=whom is the object; that noun or pronoun is the subject Examples: She knew the girl who sold us the tickets. I don’t know who’s going to take her. She doesn’t know whom she’s going to take. Take whomever you wish.
The other 10% Here are important EXCEPTIONS: • The verb following the who/whom is am, is, are, was, were, been, being (not helpers—no action portion of the verb); then choose who: I know who she is. Did you know who he was? • Questions: the noun/pronoun will be between the who/whom and the ACTION portion of the verb: Whom did she choose? Verb=did choose Whom was she going to invite? Verb=was going
More Exceptions for the Intelligent • One (some, #, all, etc) of whom--- The stockbrokers, one of whom was rich, knew. The prizewinners, one of whom she knew, returned the money • Parenthetical insertions of I thought, I knew, etc. between subject and verb: Who did you say chose the winners? Who did you think really won? The people who I thought knew the President…