Subjective pronouns replace nouns as the subject of a sentence or subject complement. Proper grammar requires using subjective pronouns as subjects, not objects. Subjective pronouns can also be used as subject complements, but this rule is often ignored in informal English.
A subjective pronoun takes the place of a noun to serve as the subject of a sentence or to serve as a subject complement. The subject of a sentence is the word or phrase within a sentence that is initiating the action or otherwise serving as the primary actor within the sentence. This is typically represented by a noun such as “dog” or “book” or a proper noun such as “Larry” or “New York.” In some cases, however, a subjective pronoun rather than a noun may be used, often following a sentence in which the subject has already been identified or as a subject complement referring to the original subject in a sentence.
Proper grammar in sentences that use pronouns often relies on understanding when to use a subjective pronoun rather than an objective one. The subjective form is used when the pronoun serves as the subject of a sentence, such as “She went to the store.” In this sentence, “She” is the subject and is in the form of a pronoun rather than the noun of “She” or a noun such as “woman”. “Gone” is the predicate in the sentence indicating the action performed by the subject and “to the shop” is a prepositional phrase indicating the destination of the action.
If a subjective pronoun is used as an object in a sentence, a grammatical error occurs. A sentence like “I know she” is incorrect as it uses “she” as the object, while the correct objective pronoun is “her”, which cannot be used as a subject. New speakers of English, including those learning English as a second language and developing speakers, often have difficulty making the correct choice of objective or subjective pronoun, which can lead to grammatical errors. Such errors do not necessarily interfere with the meaning, however, so the content of a statement may be intelligible even if not grammatically correct.
There are some cases where a subjective pronoun can be used in a position other than the subject. This usage is referred to as subject complement and refers to the subject of a sentence that is stated or implied. In the sentence “I am the victor”, the pronoun “I” is clearly the subject of the sentence. If this is reversed to “I am the winner,” then the pronoun becomes a subject compliment that serves to refer to the subject of the sentence, “The winner.” In this usage, the subjective pronoun should be used rather than an objective pronoun, although many people do not follow this rule in informal and spoken English.
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