Understanding pronoun cases

First, what are pronouns?

Before we dive into pronoun cases, let’s briefly go over what a pronoun is. Pronouns replace nouns in a sentence to help you avoid repetition and make your writing more concise. You may often use pronouns like she/her, he/him, or they/them to address other people or that, these, those, and this to refer to an object.

Write with Confidence using Editor

Elevate your writing with real-time, intelligent assistance

Learn more

What are pronoun cases?

Pronoun cases refer to the form or function of a pronoun in a sentence. They can change their form depending on their role within a sentence. The case of a pronoun indicates whether it is acting as the subject of a sentence, the object of a verb or preposition, or showing possession.

Pronouns can be categorized into three different cases: subjective, objective, and possessive. Let’s go over each pronoun case and some examples of each one to see what they look like.

Subjective pronouns

As the name suggests, pronouns in the subjective case are used as the subject of a sentence or clause. Subjective (or nominative) pronouns refer to the person, place, or thing performing the action and are typically found at the beginning of the sentence. Common pronouns in the subjective case include “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” and “they.”

Here are some examples of what subjective pronouns look like:

• I can handle that task for you.
• You are going to be a wonderful mentor someday.
• He goes to the gym every Wednesday.
• It was very delicious.
• They are leaving soon for the party.

Objective pronouns

Similar to how the subjective case works, pronouns in the objective case replace the object in a sentence. When following subject-object-verb order, the subject is doing the action and the object is receiving it. In the objective case, the pronoun can either be used as the direct object of a verb or as the object of a preposition. Common objective pronouns include “me,” “you,” “him,” “her,” “it,” “us,” and “them.”

Here are some examples of what objective pronouns look like:

• Annie gave her a nice gift.
• The performance moved all of us.
• Lila was waiting for him to finish working.
• Our team had never lost to them before.
• I wanted to finish the rest of it.

Possessive pronouns

Pronouns in the possessive case are used to indicate ownership or possession of something. Common possessive pronouns include “my,” “your,” “his,” “her,” “its,” “our,” and “their.” You can also use “mine,” “yours,” “hers,” “ours,” and “theirs” as possessive pronouns.

Here are some examples of what possessive pronouns look like:

• You can borrow my laptop for today.
• Is that your project?
• I’ve always admired her shoes.
• Those are our seats in the front row.
• The papers on the desk are mine.

Get more practice with using pronouns

Besides pronoun cases, there are many types of pronouns that are important to know about. With enough practice, you can become more familiar with using pronouns in your writing. Browse our writing resources to learn more about pronoun types and other aspects of grammar.