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Objective pronoun



         


An objective pronoun 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.

In English, many pronouns are different from their corresponding subjective pronouns: I/me, we/us, he/him, she/her, who/whom, and they/them.

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. See declension in English.

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Regional differences

Several relatively common usages of objective pronouns in the subject position are regarded as errors by prescriptive grammarians, though descriptive grammarians class such usages as dialect and a natural part of language evolution. Various dialects of American English in particular often disregard subjective/objective pronoun distinctions in certain cases.

For example, to use the objective pronoun in a compound subject, regardless of whether it is a subject or object, is considered grammatically incorrect in Queen's English:

Incorrect: You and me are going to school together.

Correct: You and I are going to school together.

Correct: The teacher teaches you and me.

Also, using the objective pronoun for the second word in a comparison with the conjunction than, regardless of whether it is a subject or object, is similary regarded as incorrect in Queen's English. This rule is very often disregarded in American English, to the point where a sentence constructed using "proper" grammar can, in some cases, be perceived as artificial or archaic to a native speaker of American English.

Incorrect: You are a better swimmer than her.

Correct: You are a better swimmer than she.

Correct: They like you more than her.





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