Pronouns are not the opposite of anti nouns. They are handy little words that substitute for nouns or other pronouns. They rescue us from writing sentences such as John drove John’s car to John’s mother’s house. Most English speakers intuitively know what pronoun to use in a given sentence. However (you knew there was going to be a however), when it comes to using I and we, some kind of grammatical insanity sets in.
Pronouns fall into three groups, which are known as cases: the nominative, the objective, and the possessive. You don’t really have to know those terms but it might be fun to bandy them about someday to show that you’re in the know.
NominativeObjective Possessive
I/weme/usmy/ours
youyou/youyours/yours
he/theyhim/them his/theirs
she/theyher/them hers/theirs
it/theyit/themits/theirs
When the pronoun is part of the subject of the sentence, use the nominative case: I went to see Martha. When the pronoun is part of the object of the sentence, i.e., the recipient or object of the action described, then use the pronoun in the objective case: Martha came to see me. When you want to indicate possession, use possessive pronouns as in Martha came to see my new apartment.
Now comes the tricky part: Whenever a pronoun is the object of a preposition, you must use the objective case. Of course you recall that a preposition is anywhere a rat can run. Rats can run by, at, between, in, on, with, near, and so forth. Whenever a pronoun follows a preposition, you must put the pronoun in the objective form. For example, you would write Susan went to the movies with him, because with is a preposition and because they saw a movie together. It would be ridiculous to write Susan went to the movies with he. Often, both forms of pronouns appear in the same sentence, as in he went to the movies with her. Note that in these sentences the object of the preposition (with her) takes the objective case.
Any writer knows instinctively that writing him went to the movies with she is wrong because the pronoun use is wrong. However, many writers become confused when using the pronouns me and us. Somewhere in recent literary history, it became uncool to say me. Maybe it was when Cookie Monster began growling, Me want cookie! Whatever the reason, the fact is that me and its plural partner us have gotten a bad rap. Both of these pronouns go in the place of the object of a phrase or preposition. For example, between is a preposition. So if you want to say between you and ___ what would the right pronoun be? Right! It’s me. Contrary to the beliefs of certain broadcast personalities, there is nothing classy about saying or writing between you and I. This phrase is actually an incorrect use of the pronouns.
Another form of pronoun abuse has become endemic among certain groups, particularly among teenagers and children. Instead of saying Mary and I want to go to the movies, they will say Me and Mary want to go…. Pronoun barbarians even descend into phrases such as me and her want to go…. These phrases reek of ignorance. When the phrase containing the pronoun is the subject of the sentence, it requires the subjective case of the pronoun. At least you and I will be using these pronouns correctly.
Obviously, using these words is not brain surgery. Maybe we should keep that just between us.
Elizabeth Danziger, author of writing text "Get to the Point!", has trained business people all over the U.S. to write clearly and concisely. Her clients include Norwest, Transamerica, Lipton, U.S. Dept. of Commerce and others as well as smaller firms. Find her at http://www.worktalk.com or (310)396-8303.
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