Case

Case is one of the most challenging areas of sentence correctness for writers of standard edited English. Examine the nonstandard sentence below.

Nonstandard

She divided the chocolates between him and I.

The problem is that “I” in this situation should be “me” since it is part of the object of the preposition “between” (the other part of the object is “him”).

Standard

She divided the chocolates between him and me.

Pronouns appear in different forms or cases depending on their role in the sentence. The primary concern here is knowing how to distinguish between the subjective case, which is used for subjects, and the objective case, which is used for objects.

Who wrote this book? Whoever wrote the book should be proud.

Note that, for all the subjective examples, the italicized word is the subject of the action of the verb “wrote”—the one or ones doing the writing.

The book belonged to whom?

Vote for whomever you want to win the election.

For the objective case examples, you can recognize that the pronouns are the objects of the prepositions “to” or “for” except for two of the sentences:

Standard

The book impacted him.

In this example, the word “him” is also an object, but instead of being an object of a preposition, it is the object of the verb called a direct object. You may have heard the traditional description of a verb’s object “receiving the action of the verb.”  That’s what’s happening in that sentence.

Standard

He gave me the book.

In this example, “me” is an object of the verb called an indirect object. Indirect objects always occur with direct objects.

Although there are multiple kinds of objects—objects of a preposition, direct objects, and indirect objects—you don’t need to recognize the specific kind of object to know how to use case in standard edited English.

You need only to recognize when to label a pronoun more broadly as an object (objective). A way to do that is to recognize when a pronoun is not the subject of a verb. If there is no verb doing the action of the pronoun, then you have an object instead.

Case and Complex Constructions
When our sentences become complex—when we use coordinating conjunctions such as and—we can lose track of what case we ought to be using.

Standard Subjective Case in Simple Sentences

I rode the bike. She rode the bike. He rode the bike.

Nonstandard Use of Objective Case as Subject in Complex Constructions

Gaia and me rode the bike.
(“I” is required as part of the subject for the verb “rode.”)

Him and Gaia rode the bike.
(“He” is required as part of the subject for the verb “rode.”)

He, Gaia, and her rode the bike.
(“She” is required as part of the subject for the verb “rode.”)

Standard Use of Objective Case in Simple Sentences

I wanted to go with her. Rachelle wanted to go with me. I wanted to go with him, too. But Rachelle wanted to go with them.

Nonstandard Use of Subjective Case as Object in Complex Constructions

I wanted to go with Rachelle and he.
(“Him” is required as part of the object of the preposition “with.”)

She wanted to go with him and I.
(“Me” is required as part of the object of the preposition “with.”)

He wanted to go with Rachelle and I.
(“Me” is required as part of the object of the preposition “with.”)

I wanted to go with him, Rachelle, and she.
(“Her” is required as part of the object of the preposition “with.”)

Me and her plan to go with they.
(“I” and “she” are required as the subject of the verb “plan.” “Them” is required as the object of the preposition “with.”)

Case and Omitted Verbs
Another tricky challenge occurs when we contrast two things and omit a verb.

Standard Sentences with Explicit Verbs

I have always been taller than he is.

I was three years older than she was.

I like you as much as I like her.

I like you as much as she likes you.

Nonstandard Sentences with Omitted Verbs

I have always been taller than him.
(Standard: I have always been taller than he [is].)

I was three years older than her.
(Standard: I was three years older than she [was].)

Ambiguity in Pronouns with Omitted Verbs

I like you as much as her. 

I like you as much as [I like] her.

I like you as much as she.

I like you as much as she [likes you].

I think Babette likes anchovies more than I.

I think Babette likes anchovies more than I [like anchovies].

I think Babette likes anchovies more than me.

I think Babette likes anchovies more than [she likes] me.

For the Careful Writer:

Case: Who and Whom

Who is the subjective form; it will have a verb with which it goes. Whom is the objective form; it will be the object of something—a preposition or a verb (a direct object or an indirect object).

Standard Use of Who in Simple Sentences

Who wants an ice cream cone?

Who’s responsible for this mess?

Nonstandard Use of Whom as Subject in Complex Constructions

I gave the ball to the people whom, given the time, would make the most of the opportunity.
(“Who” is required to be the subject of the verb “would make.”)

When we went to the dance, I demanded whom was responsible.
(“Who” is required to be the subject of the verb “was.”)

Standard Use of Whom in Simple Sentences

To whom it may concern: have a nice day.

To whom did you give it?

You went with whom?

Nonstandard Use of Who as Object in Complex Constructions

Considering the presidential debate, I would be interested in knowing who you tend to agree with.
(Note that the verb “tend” already has the subject “you”; thus, you need an objective case “whom” for the preposition “with.”)

Who the gods destroy they first make mad.
(Note that the verb “destroy” already has the subject “the gods”; thus, you need an objective case “whom” as the object of the verb “destroy.”)

Have you decided who you are going to ask to lunch?
(Note that the verb “are going” already has the subject “you”; thus, you need “whom” to be the object of the verb “ask.”)

For the Careful Writer:

Case: Whoever and Whomever
Whoever is in the subjective case. When there’s a verb that needs a subject, the word whoever fills that role.

Standard Use of Whoever in Simple Sentences

Whoever is willing to fill that role please stand up.

Whoever wanted it got the ball.

Whoever threw that is in big trouble.

Nonstandard Use of Whomever as the Subject in Complex Constructions

I gave the ball to whomever wanted it.
(“Whoever” is required to be the subject of the verb “wanted.”)

You should not throw whomever offends you into the pool.
(“Whoever” is required to be the subject of the verb “offends.”)

Take whomever wants to have a swim to the pool.
(“Whoever” is required to be the subject of the verb “wants.”)

The money was intended for whomever had the best claim to it.
(“Whoever” is required to be the subject of the verb “had.”)

Case and Accompanying Nouns (Appositives)
Examine the following nonstandard sentence and the standard one afterwards.

Nonstandard

Us softball players were disappointed that we were rained out.

Standard

We softball players were disappointed that we were rained out.

The pronoun “us” should be the subjective case “we” for the verb “were disappointed.” Identifying the standard pronoun is difficult in this circumstance because there seems to be another subject: “softball players.” What is going on?

One way to think of it is that “we” and the “softball players” are both the subject. Since the sentence begins with a pronoun, the noun “softball players” is used to clarify the pronoun. A noun that follows a pronoun in this way is called an appositive.

Sometimes, an object in the sentence also may have a pronoun and accompanying noun.

Nonstandard

The coach took we softball players out for ice cream instead.

Standard

The coach took us softball players out for ice cream instead.

As above, the easiest way to determine that the pronoun should be “us” (followed by “softball players”) is to recognize that there is no verb afterwards to serve as the subject; thus, it must be an object (the direct object).

When the accompanying noun acts as a subject, its accompanying pronoun should be in the subjective case. When that noun fills the role of an object, the pronoun should be in the objective case.

For the Careful Writer:

Case and the Verb To Be
If you have ever made a phone call, asked for someone by name, and heard the response, “This is she [or he],” you’ve encountered another example of case in standard edited English.

Imagine that the to be verb (is, was, are, were, has been, have been) is an equal sign. Even when a pronoun follows the subject, you use the subjective case for that pronoun.

Standard Sentences

Who is she?

It is I.

This is he.

The person who stole my wallet was she.

Don’t worry—it’s just you and I here.

It was he. He’s the one.

The person voted most likely to find a grammatical error was I.

For the Careful Writer:

Case and Noun-like -ing Phrases (Gerunds)
Once again in standard edited English, we have a construction that may be different from your everyday speech. In this situation, though, we are not dealing with subjective or objective pronouns but possessive ones. Would you have taken the first sentence below as nonstandard?

Nonstandard

The best part of Jamel’s wedding was him singing to his bride.

Standard

The best part of Jamel’s wedding was his singing to his bride

The reason why the possessive “his” is used is that the –ing phrase “singing to his bride” acts as a noun. We often called this construction a gerund. One way to test to see if an –ing phrase is a noun is to replace it with another noun and try a possessive pronoun before it: “The best part of Jamel’s wedding was his song to his bride.”

Below is a review of possessive pronouns.

Possessive Case
My book is mine. Our book is ours.
Your book is yours. Your book is yours.
Her book is hers. Their book is theirs.
His book is his.
Its book is its.
Whose book is this?

Here are some sentences to show you common nonstandard examples.

Nonstandard

I was impressed by him cooking.

Standard

I was impressed by his cooking.

Nonstandard

I don’t worry about you skipping class.

Standard

I don’t worry about your skipping class.

Case: Pronouns Ending with -self

Have you heard someone say a sentence like this example?

Nonstandard

Maria and myself are going to the store.

The problem with the sentence is that the word “myself” should be replaced with “I” because “myself” is currently part of the subject doing the action of “going to the store,” so the subjective case should be used.

Standard

Maria and I are going to the store.

There are a couple rules you should know for using pronouns that end with –self (reflexive and intensive /emphatic pronouns).

1. A –self pronoun can be the object of a sentence where it reflects (as in reflexive) back to a subject that refers to the same person, people, or thing. It cannot stand as a subject as in the previous nonstandard example.

Standard

Maria fell and hurt herself.

She fell and hurt herself.

2. A –self pronoun can emphasize or intensify another noun or pronoun that refers to the same person, people, or thing.

Standard Sentences

Maria herself read the book.

She herself read the book.