TCNICO UNIVERSITARIO EN TRADUCCIN

Espaol e Ingls

Pronoun Case
The term case refers to how a noun or pronoun functions in a sentence. As you have seen, nouns do
not change their form to show cases, but personal pronouns do. The pronouns I, he, she, we, they,
who, have separate forms for cases as follows:

NOMINATIVE CASE USES OF PRONOUNS

I, we, he, she, they, it, who, whoever
POSSESSIVE CASE
my, our, his, her, their, whose
mine, ours, his, hers, theirs
Subject (N1)
Predicate Nominative (PN N1)
Appositive (restating subject)
Determiners
Pronominals (in noun positions)
(stand alone, by themselves)

OBJECTIVE CASE
me, us, him, her, them, whom, whomever Direct Object
Indirect Object
Object of Prep
Appositive (restating object)

THE NOMINATIVE CASE PRONOUN IS USED WHEN:

1. it is a subject.
N1 N1
I think they are ready. (I think [that] they are ready.)
N1
He and I are friends.

2. it is a predicate nominative.
N1 N1
The speaker is I. It was she.
N1
The authors of the book are he and I.

3. it is an appositive of a subject noun.

Appos N1
We players defended the goal.

Appos
Only two artists, Beth and I, went to the annual art show.

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4. it is the subject of an understood verb.
N1 LV
You are as well trained [ as she (is.) ]
N1 V
Mario has more time [ than I (have.) ]

5. it is the subject of a dependent (spoiled) clause.

N1
The teenagers [who washed the cars] were underpaid.
N1
She is the woman [who I knew would be elected.]

THE OBJECTIVE CASE PRONOUN IS USED WHEN:

1. it is a direct object of a verb.
N2
Dan left Keith and her alone.
N2
He drove Jim and me to the airport.

2. it is the indirect object of a verb. [Pattern 5]

N3
Nick offered Bill and me coffee.
N3
The loud music gave us a headache.

3. it is the object of a preposition.

Prep OP
This secret is (between you and me.)
Prep OP
He discussed the problem (with them).

4. it is an appositive restating an object.

N2 Appos
The boss paid two employees, Carl and her.
Appos N2
No one hired us artists.
Appos
Three (of us artists) share an apartment.

5. it is the object of a verbal.

G OG
Loving him was easy. (Object of Gerund)
P OP
Having appointed her, the governor left. (Object of Participle)
Inf Obj Inf
The teacher tried to correct him. (Object of Infinitive)

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The possessive case of a pronoun (determiner) is used before nouns
and gerunds.
D N1
Examples: My neighbor borrowed our car.

D G N1
Their driving to New York was a good suggestion.

The possessive pronouns (pronominals) mine, yours, his, hers, and theirs (and only those forms)
function like nouns and take the nominative case.

Suggestion: Put the pronominal into the N1 slot.

N1 LV N1
Examples: Theirs is the small house (on the lake.)
Hers
Mine
Yours
Ours

N1 LV N1
The swimming pool (in the backyard) is mine.
yours.
his.
hers.
ours.
theirs.

The best way to determine the correct pronoun form is to pattern the sentence. See which pronouns
show up as either subjects or objects.

Examples:
N1 V N3 N2
1. Steve gave Cindy and me his help. (not I) Steve gave me his help.

N1 V N2
2. Mathew and I love the theater. (not me) I love the theater.

N1 V N2
3. Dad excused my friends and me. (not l) Dad excused me.

N1 LV Adj
4. Who is responsible (for this mess?) He is responsible for this mess.

N1 V N2 Prep OP
5. The police officer gave directions (to Jonathan and me. )
(not l) The police officer gave directions to me.

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 Prep Appos OP
6. A brochure was sent (to us writers.) A brochure was sent to us.

N1 LV N1
7. The writer is who? He is the writer.

OP Prep
8. (Whom) is that letter written (to?) That letter is written to him.

N1 LV N1 N1 V N2
9. It is he [who wrote that letter. ] He wrote that letter.

N1 V
10. Who did you say is calling? He is calling.

Name _____________________________________________________ Date ___________

PRACTICE: PRONOMINALS
DIRECTIONS: In the blank spaces below supply the correct pronoun.

1. Her diet is too restrictive. _________________ is much better.

2. This is her book. _________________ is on the desk.

3. This is not our dog. _________________ was lost six months ago.

4. The car parked on the street is_________________ .

5. My writing is difficult to read. _________________ is much clearer.

PRACTICE: PRONOUN CASE

DIRECTIONS: The pronouns underlined in each sentence are correctly used. Pattern each sentence.
Before each sentence, write one of the numbers to identify the use of the pronoun.
1. Subject (N1), 2. Predicate Nominative (N1), 3. Direct Object (N2), 4. Indirect Object (N3),
5. Object of Preposition, 6. Object of Verbal, 7. Appositive

_____ l. You are making my sister and me nervous.

1. Noun Subject
_____ 2. Who did you think will be cast as Swan Queen? 2. Predicate Nominative
3. Direct Object
4. Indirect Object
_____ 3. Whom do you think the directors will cast as Swan Queen?
5. Object of Preposition
6. Object of Verbal
_____ 4. If you were I, would you sell this car? 7. Appositive

_____ 5. Leave your name with whoever is in the writing center.

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_____ 6. Nicole has not called Lisa or me in three weeks.

_____ 7. Most of us dancers have had too many disappointments.

_____ 8. We vegetarians are often misunderstood.

_____ 9. Ellen is the candidate who most of the students think has earned the nomination.

_____ 10. The cashier in the supermarket is friendly with whomever she does business.

_____ 11. Most of us dancers have had too many disappointments.

_____ 12. We vegetarians are often misunderstood.

_____ 13. Do you know who was driving the tractor?

_____ 14. Teaching us beginners is a difficult job.

_____ 15. The anonymous contributor, whoever he was, gave a large sum of money to the Childrens

Center.

_____ 16. No one is more dedicated to her job than she.

PRACTICE: PRONOUN CASE

DIRECTIONS: Pattern each sentence below. Circle the correct pronoun and write the number on the
line to indicate its use.

_____ 1. The personal check was made out to father and (I, me).

_____ 2. After two years of saving money, (he, him) and (I, me) decided to vacation in Europe.

_____ 3. Somebody told us that (she, her) and Louis are unemployed.

_____ 4. The marriage counselor gave advice to (he, him) and (I, me).

_____ 5. Laura is as interested in school as (they, them).

_____ 6. We are not as clever as (they, them).

_____ 7. The community provides many activities for (we, us) senior citizens.

_____ 8. Two of (we, us) students, my friend Becky and (I, me), spent three hours in the library.

_____ 9. To (we, us) retired people rest and relaxation are important.

_____ 10. Most of (we, us) dancers studied together for years.

_____ 11. The intelligent ones are ( she, her ), ( he, him ) and Barry.

_____ 12. I know ( who, whom ) I think typed that letter.

_____ 13. ( Who, Whom ) did the architect design this house for?

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PRACTICE: PRONOUN CASE
DIRECTIONS: Pattern each sentence below. Circle the correct pronoun, and write the number on
the line to indicate its use.

_____ 1. The computer specialist gave my friend and (I, me) a tour of the plant.

_____ 2. (Who, Whom) did you see at the concert last night?

_____ 3. The speaker (who, whom) gave the commencement address is from Boston.

_____ 4. (Who, Whom) won the raffle drawing?

_____ 5. That old man asked Martha and (I, me) for directions to the Civic Center.

_____ 6. (Who, Whom) did you say stopped by?

_____ 7. The owner of that store gave (she, her) and (I, me) jobs.

_____ 8. The insurance agent (who, whom) I expected to meet today was delayed.

_____ 9. Pablo and (he, him) work in advertising.

_____ 10. My oldest brother is much taller than (I, me).

_____ _____ 11. Was it ( she, her ) ( who, whom ) you called yesterday?

_____ _____ _____ 12. It was ( she, her ) ( who, whom ) ( we, us ) met at the beach.

_____ _____ 13. John and ( she, her ) will meet Sam and ( I, me ) near the entrance.

_____ _____ 14. The soloist was ( she, her ). It should have been ( I, me ).

_____ _____ 15. ( We, Us ) entertainers are interested in more work.

PRACTICE: PRONOUN CASE

DIRECTIONS:
As you pattern each sentence, select any pronoun from the correct case that completes the sentence
pattern.
I, he, she, we, they, who, whoever, mine, his, hers, ours, theirs: N1
me, him, her, us, them, whom, whomever: N2, N3, OP (object of preposition) or OV (object of verbal)

1. The beverages were evenly distributed among Lisa, Eve, and ________________ .

2. The model believed that no one was as attractive as________________ .

3. No one is as expert a mechanic as________________ .

4. It is________________ who dropped the box.

5. The driver and________________ traveled over six hundred miles together.

6. The members of this band Don, Jack and________________ have performed in Canada.

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7. Do you know as much about automobiles as________________?

8. ________________ did the coaches select as defenseman of the year?

9. An argument began between________________ and ________________ .

10. Her caring husband tries to provide ________________ with many luxuries.

11. That young dancer, ________________ she is, has stamina.

12. Vacationing in Florida gives Ed and________________ a chance to relax.

13. ________________ players deserve a trophy.

14. At the awards banquet a trophy was given to ________________ players.

15. For ________________ to enjoy reading a book, it has to be about travel.

16. Does anyone know ________________ the chairperson of this committee is?

17. I know to ________________ he wrote that note.

18. Give Kathy and ________________ detailed directions to the high school.

19. Kathy and ________________ gave Brian and ________________ directions to the high school.

20. The directions you gave to Brian and________________ were not as detailed as

________________.