Objective pronoun

An objective pronoun in grammar functions as the target of a verb, as distinguished from a subjective pronoun, which is the initiator of a verb. Objective pronouns are instances of the oblique case.^[1] In layman's terms, the target is the object on which the verb acts, and the initiator is the subject performing the action. For example, in the sentence "The dog chased the cat", the dog is the initiator (or subject), and the cat is the target (or object). English primarily relies on word order to determine which is which; English nouns do not change form depending on their usage. In contrast, most (but not all) pronouns in English do have distinctive subject and object forms:

Subject/initiator pronoun	Object/target pronoun
I	Me
He	Him
She	Her
It	It
We	Us
You	You
They	Them
Who	Whom

History

English once had an extensive declension system that specified distinct pronouns for accusative and dative cases. This collapsed into a single pronoun for both accusative and dative cases, now called the objective pronoun. Thus, many requirements for declension in English concerning the objective and subjective pronouns have since mostly regressed. Objective pronouns in English are a vestige of this older case system.

Several relatively common usages of objective pronouns in the subject position are regarded as errors by prescriptivists, though descriptive grammarians and linguists class such usages as dialect and a natural part of language evolution. Various dialects of English often disregard subjective/objective pronoun distinctions in certain cases. In some instances, language that complies with these rules sounds odd or archaic to a native speaker, whereas language that violates them sounds fluent and normal.

In this article, "standard" refers to usage that complies with rules adhered to by prescriptive grammarians, whereas "nonstandard" refers to usage that may violate these rules but may nevertheless be commonly used by a native speaker. (There is no official 'standard' for English, but this definition should be adequate for the purposes of this article.)

• Nonstandard: You and me are going to school together. (Compare: Us are going to school together.)
• Standard: You and I are going to school together. (Compare: We are going to school together.)

• Nonstandard: The teacher teaches you and I. (Compare: The teacher teaches we.)
• Standard: The teacher teaches you and me. (Compare: The teacher teaches us.)

• Nonstandard: You are a better swimmer than her. (Than is used here as a preposition; as such, it assigns objective case to its argument, 'her'.)
• Standard: You are a better swimmer than she. (You are a better swimmer than she [is].)
• Standard: They like you more than she. (They like you more than she [likes you].)
• Standard: They like you more than her. (They like you more than [they like] her.)

In an SVO language (like English), the noun before the verb is usually considered the subject, and the noun after the verb is considered the object. One exception to this involves the copula. The copula can be thought of as a "linking verb" or an equal sign. Logically, the copula says that the two nouns it joins are the same. As such, it has traditionally been considered proper that they share the same case. Since this rule establishes an exception to the normal sentence pattern, the "standard" usage sounds odd to many speakers:

• Standard: The winner was I.
• Nonstandard: The winner was me.
• Standard: I was the winner.

Notice that in the third example, the sentence can be rephrased to sound more natural without violating the rule. Here, "winner" is serving as an object. However, as nouns do not change form according to usage in English (they are not declined), "winner" looks equally natural in either position.

Finally, the pronoun whom, technically the objective form of who, is falling into disuse^{[citation needed]}. Who is commonly used for both objective and nominative cases, similar to the word you. The fact that the "standard" sentences below sound archaic to many speakers is a reminder that languages do change.

• Nonstandard: Who should I tell?
• Standard: Whom should I tell?
• Nonstandard: Whom should hear that?
• Standard: Who should hear that?

See also

• Object (grammar)
• Subject (grammar)

References

1. ^ Oxford Guide to English Grammar (ISBN: 978-0194313513)