Which Case? Subjective or Objective

Pronoun case with appositives

An appositive is a word or group of words that restates or identifies the noun or pronoun it is next to: My sister Hephzibah; John, the gardener; our friend Carlos; We, the people. The presence of an appositive doesn't change the rule for pronoun case; that is, use the subjective case for subjects and the objective case for objects.

• The decision to close the pool was a setback for us swimmers. ( not we swimmers)

The best way to make sure you have chosen the correct pronoun case is to read the sentence without the appositive: The decision to close the pool was a setback for we. Once again, you can see immediately that us is the right pronoun to use.

Pronoun case after as, than. Choosing the right pronoun case after as or than can be difficult.

Look at the following two sentences.

• You respect Professor Morrow more than I.

• You respect Professor Morrow more than me.

Depending on the meaning, either choice could be correct. If the writer means You respect Professor Morrow more than I (respect Professor Morrow), then the first sentence is correct. If the writer means You respect Professor Morrow more than (you respect) me, then the second sentence is correct.

The key to choosing the right pronoun case is to supply mentally the missing part of the clause.

• Did you work as hard as they? ( worked)

• I like Ed better than he. ( likes Ed)

• I like Ed better than him. (than I like him)

• They are smarter than we. ( are)

If a sentence sounds awkward to you—for example, They are smarter than we—you can avoid the problem by actually supplying the missing word: They are smarter than we are.

Who, whom, whoever, whomever

These pronouns cause so much anxiety that they are being treated separately, even though the rules about case are the same as those for I, he, she, we, and they.

As a subject, choose who or whoever.

• He was the man who won the game. (subject of won)

• Whoever wants the paper can have it. (subject of wants)

As an object, choose whom or whomever.

• He was a person around whom controversy swirled. (object of the preposition around)

• Whomever will you invite? (You will invite whomever: direct object)

In informal speech and writing whom is used infrequently. At the beginning of questions, for example, who is substituted for whom, even when whom would be grammatically correct.

• Who will you marry? (You will marry whom.)

• Who did he ask? (He did ask whom.)

Even some standardized tests have given up who/whom questions. Who knows? Maybe whom will disappear from the language someday. Does this mean you should feel free to ignore it? Probably not yet, at least in formal writing. It is still safer to maintain the distinction between who and whom—and maintain it correctly.