Challenging Uses of Cases

There are several types of sentences that cause confusion about whether to use a subject or object pronoun: sentences with a compound subject or object; sentences with a pronoun followed directly by a noun; and sentences that use pronouns after than or as. After this lesson, you'll be much more confident about which pronouns to use in these tricky situations.

Pronouns in Compounds

In sentences that use two pronouns or a noun and a pronoun together, it's easy to become confused about which pronoun to use. If you're not sure which one is correct, consider whether it's part of the subject (doing the action) or part of the object (either receiving the action or after a preposition). Sometimes a pronoun may sound right to you, but you can't always trust your ears. Be especially careful with I and me, which are two of the most common offenders.

Common Error #1: Using Object Pronouns in Place of Subject Pronouns

Notice how in the last example it would sound strange to say they and I, so the best solution is to combine the two pronouns into the single pronoun we.

Common Error #2: Using Subject Pronouns in Place of Object Pronouns

The last two examples use object pronouns because they come after prepositions (for and between).

Pronoun order can be another tricky topic when dealing with compounds. Writing convention suggests that, out of courtesy, when using the first person pronouns I or me, we generally put these pronouns last, allowing the other names and pronouns to go first.

Sam and I saw a movie on Saturday.
I wrote a story about my cat and me. (Not me and my cat.)

Pronouns Before Nouns

Sometimes for clarity or emphasis, writers use a pronoun and a noun together. People often use an object pronoun when they mean to use a subject pronoun, and vice versa.

Pronouns After Than or As

When sentences use than or as to compare, it can be difficult to choose the correct pronoun.

At this point you might be wondering why the left column of this chart sounds correct while thinking that the right side sounds a little strange. That's because it's perfectly acceptable to talk that way in casual conversation. However, in formal writing you must follow the examples in the right column. (There are cases in which it's okay to use an object pronoun after than or as, but doing so completely changes the meaning of the sentence.)

In sentences with than or as, different pronouns can create different meanings.

Imaginary monsters scare my little brothers more than (they scare) me.
(The monsters don't scare me as much as they scare my little brothers.)

Imaginary monsters scare my little brothers more than I (scare them).
(I don't scare my little brothers as much as the monsters do.)

She likes him as much as (she likes) me.
(She likes both him and me equally.)

She likes him as much as I (do).
(Both she and I like him the same amount.)