Pronoun Usage

I vs Me
We vs Us
They vs Them

Using these words is always easy until it isn't and for that exact situation, I present to you the tell-tale proof on proper usage!

Pronouns are an interesting class of nouns because they go through deixis. Deixis means that the speaker of the sentence defines the meaning of the word and that the meaning changes each time it is spoken. Like other nouns, pronouns can be used as subjects and objects of sentences while also taking possession of objects within sentence.

The proper usage of each pronoun class can be remembered by using 4 sentences, which I will discuss below.

Subject Pronouns

These subject pronouns can be easily remembered by constructing a sentence with a blank subject and filling in the proper pronoun for each case.

• ______ went to the store.

We can use every pronoun that works as the subject of a sentence: I, You, He, She, It, We, You, and They.

• I went to the store.
• You went to the store.
• He went to the store.
• She went to the store
• and so on.

Object Pronouns

Like subject pronouns, we can do the same with the object pronouns.

• They gave this to ______.

We can use every pronoun that works as the object of a sentence: Me, You, Him, Her, It, Us, You, and Them

• They gave this to him.
• They gave this to her.
• They gave this to it.
• They gave this to us.
• and so on.

Independent Genitive

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the heck is a genitive?

That is definitely a subject for another post but just consider it to show ownership of an object. The important part of this class is that we remember the first word, Independent. This means that it can stand on its own. We can do the same thing with these pronouns as all of the others in that sense.

• This car is _____.

We can use every pronoun that works that independent genitive pronoun: Mine, Yours, His, Hers, Its, Ours, Yours, and Theirs

• This car is ours.
• This car is yours.
• This car is theirs.
• and so on.

Dependent Genitive

Remember the independent genitive? Of course you do it, it's right above! If you don't, go a head and scroll up for a quick summary. The dependent genitive is the little brother of the independent genitive that needs a little help from an object to be used properly. In the following sentence, we show ownership of a house.

• This is ____ house.

We can use every pronoun that works with the dependent genitive pronoun: My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Your and Their

• This is my house.
• This is your house.
• This is his house.
• This is her house.
• and so on.

Wrap Up

With the following four sentences, you can remember the proper usage of every pronoun so those little hiccups will never occur again!

______ went to the store.

They gave this to ______.

This car is _____.

This is ____ house.