Pronouns; sub and obj cases

          Subjective and Objective Cases of Pronouns

           

1. It was (I, me) who ate the entire bag of potato chips while you were out.

2. Aunt Dorothy left her collection of wrestling memorabilia to David and (I, me).

3. Between you and (I, me), Angela’s grammar leaves a great deal to be desired.

4. Allan was having lunch with Anne and (I, me) when he heard the news.

5. Warren and (I, me) haven’t spoken since our argument 10 years ago.

6. They gave Adam and (I, me) heavy-duty umbrellas when we moved to Seattle.

7. He isn’t picky; he’s dating not only Jill, but also Frederika,Caroline, and (I, me).

8. The agency prizes Carol, (who, whom) can type at least 60 words per minute.

9. These are the people among (who, whom) you will be living next semester.

10. I asked her (who, whom) she meant to marry after she dumped Alfred.

11. The man (who, whom) Gloria thought was the waiter proved to be the company president.

12. The lawyers, (who, whom) we haven’t spoken to in months, submitted an itemized bill this morning.

13. The woman (who, whom) he’d said was his wife proved to be his accountant.

14. (Whoever, Whomever) is hiding under the bed had better come out this minute.

15. He’ll send candy to (whoever, whomever) he likes best.

16. Cats attach themselves to (whoever, whomever) is allergic to them.

17. They gave a bag of bonbons to (whoever, whomever)showed up at the
door.

18. Hubert announced he’d fight (whoever, whomever) took up his challenge.

19. I’ll talk to (whoever, whomever) you think I should.

20. (He, him) and (I, me) were hired as short-order cooks, but were promoted to vice presidents in charge of culinary arts.

21. I gave Bill and (she, her) detailed directions, but they still got lost.

22. It is (she, her) who owns the car, but it was (he, him) who crashed it.

23. Something is going on between (she, her) and (he, him).

24. The bees attacked Karen and (he, him) while they were

contemplating the sunset.

25. Have you ever met Julia? This is (she, her).



Key: Subjective and Objective Cases

1. I. Subjective case after the verb “was,” a finite form of “to be.”
2. me. Indirect object of “left.”
3. me. Object of preposition “between.”
4. me. Object of preposition “with.”
5. I. Subject of the verb “haven’t.”
6. me. Indirect object of “gave.”
7. me. Direct object of “dating.”
8. who. Subject of “can.”
9. whom. Object of the preposition “among.”
10. whom. Object of the verb “marry.” If we were using apersonal pronoun, we’d say she meant to marry him (not“he”).
11. who. Subject of the verb “was.” Gloria thought he (not“him”) was the waiter.
12. whom. Object of the preposition “to.” We haven’t spoken to them (not “they”).
13. who. Subject of the verb “was”: he’d said she (not “her”)was his wife.
14. Whoever. Subject of the verb “is hiding
15. whomever. Direct object of “likes.” Note that the pronoun takes its case from the clause in which it plays a grammatical role—and that’s not necessarily the first clause in the sentence. Here, the entire second clause, “whomever he likes best,” is the indirect object of “send.” But within that clause, “whomever” is the object of “likes”; if we were using a personal pronoun, we’d say he likes them best.
16. whoever. Subject of the verb “is.” This one’s tricky. You might have thought the pronoun was the object of “to,” but again, as in 15, it’s the entire second clause, “whoever is allergic to them,” that’s the object of “to.” Within that clause,“whoever” is the subject of “is”; if we were using a personalpronoun, we’d say she is allergic to them.
17. Whoever. Subject of the verb “showed up.” Same principleas 16.
18. whoever. Subject of the verb “took up. “ Same principle as 16 and 17.
19. whomever. Object of a second understood “talk to”: I’ll talk to whomever you think I should talk to. This one is also tricky. In this case, “whomever” does not play a part in the clauses that follow it; when we try substituting a personal pronoun such as “he” or “she,” there’s no place to put it (He you think I should? You think he should I? You think I should he?). The only way to substitute a personal pronoun is to put it in the “talk to” clause: you think I should talk to him.
20. he, I. Subjects of the verb “were hired.”
21. her. Indirect object of the verb “gave.”
22. she, he. Subjective case following “is,” a finite form
23. her, him. Objects of the preposition “between.”
24. him. Object of the verb “attacked.”
25. she. Subjective case following “is,” a finite form of the verb “to be.”