Grammatical form and meaning

2.2.What is the grammatical form of a sentence?
Subject pronouns are I, he, she, you, it, we, and they, while object pronouns are me, you, him, her, them, us, and it. Subject pronouns replace the noun performing the action in a sentence and object pronouns replace the noun receiving the action in a sentence (and are usually found in the predicate). Practice what you have learned using the exercises below.

Subject pronouns

For the following sentences, choose the correct subject pronoun to replace the noun performing the action in the sentence.
1. Jeff and Sally played basketball after school.
2. My mother and I enjoy gardening.
3. Ms. Smith has a green car.
4. The mountainside is covered in blue flowers.

Object pronouns

For the following sentences, choose the correct object pronoun to replace the noun receiving the action in the sentence.
5. Failing the test was the worst thing that ever happened to Janet.
6. A huge rock rolled down the hill and nearly hit John and me.
7. This instruction manual belongs with the typewriter.

Sample Answers

1. They
3. She
5. her
7. it
Subject pronouns can be singular or plural, and they can be masculine, feminine, or gender neutral. The masculine or feminine subject pronoun is used when gender is known; when referring to an inanimate object, the gender-neutral form “it” is used. The subject pronoun “it” can be used to refer to animals of unspecific gender, and it is also appropriate to use the subject pronoun “it” to describe a baby of unknown gender. “It” is also used to talk about the weather, temperature, or time.
If you can find the subject of a sentence, then you can find a subject pronoun just as easily! Let’s go back to basics for a moment. Every complete sentence has a subject, a verb, and an object. The subject (or subject pronoun) is always a person, thing, place, or idea, or the plural of one of those, i.e. people, things, places, or ideas. The object or object pronoun is always on the receiving end of the action.
One of the easiest ways to identify a subject or subject pronoun is to remember that it is always going to be the who or what that has a direct effect on the action that’s taking place.