Rev 1.1
BLOG 10d: Using PRONOUNS correctly
Some examples of pronouns include: I/me, he/him and she/her.
The fact that grammar is rarely taught in schools has created an appalling level of illiteracy in both the spoken and written word. Such illiteracy has been further promoted by scriptwriters in movies, TV programs, and in novels, and today most people are clueless as to how to speak and write correctly. Let me give you some examples of INCORRECT usage of the pronouns I, HE and SHE:
- John gave the books to Sally and I
2. The book is for HE and John
3. The book is for SHE and I
4. Give the book to John and I
5. It’s for HE and I to decide
Some Background
Many people just don’t know how to speak or write because the rules of grammar governing the use of pronouns are rarely taught. Yet, there is a surprisingly simple fix to this problem and it has to do with prepositions.
Prepositions are words that introduce information to the reader and include such terms as “for”, “after”, “to” and “with”, among others. Here are a few common examples showing the CORRECT use of prepositions and pronouns. The prepositions are *asterisked*.
- The book is *for* ME (not I)
2. He is *after* HER (not she)
3. He gave the information *to* HIM and ME
4. John is *with* HER (not she)
5. Give it *to* HIM (not he)
So what is the rule? Have you figured it out? Well, it’s this. If a pronoun follows (comes after) a preposition, then the correct form is always “me, him or her”, as indicated in the above examples.
So when do we use the pronouns I, HE or SHE?
Again, there is a simple rule for this. If the above pronouns come BEFORE a preposition, then it is correct to use the forms I, HE or SHE , as in the examples below. Prepositions are *asterisked*:
- John and I went *to* the movies
2. He and she have been friends *for* years
3. She and I had lunch *on* the beach
YOU MAY SKIP THIS PART
For those who may have a deeper interest in how grammatical rules drive both the spoken and written word, here is a bit more for you. I know you are chomping at the bit to hear it!
The original rules of grammar that pertain to the use of pronouns actually come from Greek and Latin, and refer to pronouns that are either the SUBJECT or the OBJECT of a sentence (and their most common respective forms in Greek and Latin which include the Nominative, Dative and Accusative cases, among several others). For example, “John and I went to the beach”. In this example John and I are the subject of this sentence and that’s why John and I (not me) is the correct form. In Latin or Greek this form indicates the Nominative case.
In this next example, “James gave the books to John and me”, the book is the subject of the sentence and John and me are the object (the Dative case).
Of course, in the original Latin or Greek this distinction was indicated by changing either the ending of the pronouns or by introducing a different word. Since English does not possess this facility, we accomplish the same thing by using different forms of a pronoun. That is “I, or Me, He or Him, or She or Her”. Also we use prepositions to determine whether the pronoun in question is the subject or the object of a sentence, and, that is how we know when to say “I or Me, He or Him and She or Her”, and so on.
In summary, if the pronoun comes before a preposition in a sentence, then we use “I, He or She”. If the pronoun is after the preposition
then the correct form is “Me, Him or Her”.
The ability to write and speak correctly, eloquently or persuasively is the mark of a well educated person and, this being so, then the word can indeed be “mightier than the sword”!
Andrew Yiannakis, Ph.D.
Research Professor
University of New Mexico, USA
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