A pronoun can appear in one of three cases:subjective, in which the pronoun functions as a --"Anal Dynamic Graciloplasty in the Treatment of Intractable FecalIncontinence," New England Journal of Medicine (modified) --"Anal Dynamic Graciloplasty in the Treatment of Intractable FecalIncontinence," New England Journal of Medicine (modified) --"Anal Dynamic Graciloplasty in the Treatment of Intractable FecalIncontinence," New England Journal of Medicine (modified) Subjective Objective Possessive I me my you you your he him his she her her it it its we us our they them their who whom whose whoever whomever whose ever Subjective Case
We observed no difference in outcome between groups in which differentintervals elapsed between the transposition of the gracilis muscle and theimplantation of the stimulator. [We is the subject of thesentence.]Objective Case
The results of this study show us that in a majority of cases, thetransposed muscle can cope with a nonphysiologic level of action. [Us is the indirect object ofshow.]Possessive Case
The patients in whom the technique was successful improved theirprofessional effectiveness and social ease. [Their indicatespossession of effectiveness and ease.]
If you are unsure which pronoun form to use after a Unacceptable
John Conway, an Oxford professor, and some enthusiastic computer hackersworked together on the project. What Conway and them found wasthat even such a simple universe as Life could indeed exhibit sufficientlycomplex behavior to form computers, and possibly more.[What they found was . . . ]Acceptable
What Conway and they found was that even such a simpleuniverse as Life could indeed exhibit sufficiently complex behavior to formcomputers, and possibly more.
Playing with various Life patterns became a full-time obsessionfor Conway and they.Playing with various Life patterns became a full-time obsessionfor Conway and them.--Kai Wu, "Artificial Life," SciTech Magazine (modified)
If you are unsure which pronoun form to use after a coordinating conjunction, donot use a reflexive pronoun to avoid making achoice. Instead, test the pronoun by itself in the sentence, without theconjunction.
Playing with various Life patterns became a full-time obsessionfor Conway and themselves.Playing with various Life patterns became a full-time obsessionfor Conway and them.--Kai Wu, "Artificial Life," SciTech Magazine (modified)
Use objective pronouns as subjects of infinitives.
In one of his experiments in the late 18th century, John Hunter, nowconsidered the father of modern surgery, marked two points in a growing pig'sbone and later found them to be the same distance apart in themature animal. He thus showed that bones grow in length only at theirends.--Linglei Xu, "Bone Talk," Scitech Magazine (modified)
Use possessive pronouns with gerunds.
Although her calculating the necessary response basedon incomplete data was unorthodox, the desired results were neverthelessachieved.Use whom as an object, who as asubject.
The project was awarded to the engineer whom was mostfamiliar with the site and its problems.The project was awarded to the engineer who was mostfamiliar with the site and its problems.Many writers and speakers use who for both subjects and objects. Thisis widely accepted in informal contexts, but in formal writing, use onlywhom for the objective case.
The project was awarded to an engineer whom I knowwell.I spoke to the engineer to whom the project wasawarded.
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