Written Expression: Subject and Object Pronoun (Skill 21)

 Previous Skill: Countable and Uncountable Noun (Skill 21)

Pronouns are words such as he, she, or it that take the place of nouns. One common problem with pronouns on the TOEFL test is that subject and object pronouns are confused, so you should be able to recognize these two types of pronouns.

A subject pronoun is used as the subject of a verb. An object pronoun can be used as the object of a verb or the object of a preposition. Compare the following two sentences.

In the second sentence, the subject pronoun she is replacing the noun Marie. The object of the verb it is replacing the noun phrase the film, and the object of the preposition him is replacing the noun Barry.

The following are examples of the types of subject or object pronoun errors that you might see on the TOEFL test.

Me* and my friend are taking a trip.

Our neighbors are going with you and I*

1. In the first example, the object pronoun me is incorrect because this pronoun serves as the subject of the sentence. The object pronoun me should be changed to the subject pronoun I. It can be difficult to recognize that me is the subject because the verb are has a double subject, me and my friend.
2. In the second example, the subject pronoun I is incorrect because this pronoun serves as the object of the preposition with. The subject pronoun I should be changed to the object pronoun me. It can be difficult to recognize that I is the object of the preposition with because the preposition with has two objects: the correct object you and the incorrect object I.

EXERCISE 21: Each of the following sentences contains at least one subject or object pronoun. Circle the pronouns. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I).

1. You should do it for her. (C)

    Analysis:

• It is correct it functions as Object pronoun

2. They helped she with the work. (I)

    Analysis:

• She is Subject Pronoun.
• But, the sentence needs Object Pronoun "her". So, the correct sentence is They helped her with the work. 

3. Her and Bob came over to visit me. (I)

    Analysis:

• Her is Object pronoun.
• It should be Subject Pronoun " She". So, the correct sentence is She and Bob came over to visit me

4. I brought it for you and them.

    Analysis:

• Subject Pronoun "I" is correct.
• Object pronoun "You and Them" is correct too.

 5. He opened the refrigerator and took some food from it. (C)

    Analysis:

• Subject pronoun "He" is correct and Object pronoun "it" is correct, too.

 6. She lent it to you and I. (I)

    Analysis:

• Subject pronoun "She" is correct.
• Object pronoun "I" is incorrect. It should be "me" as object pronoun.
  

7. She spent all the money on them.(C)

    Analysis:

• Subject pronoun "She" is correct.
• Object Pronoun "Them" is correct, too

 8. You forgot to give it to they. (I)

      Analysis:

• Object pronoun "it" is correct.
• Subject pronoun "they" is incorrect. It should be Object pronoun "them". So the correct sentence is You forgot to give it to them.

 9. We offered she a place to stay. (I)

     Analysis:

• Subject pronoun "she" is incorrect. It should be object pronoun "her"

10. They watched us play with it. (C)

      Analysis:

• Object pronoun "us" and " it" is correct

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