62 English Grammar Demystifi ed
nouns: Try one pronoun at a time. For example, what would you do if you couldn’t
decide between these two pronouns?
I ran into Jack and (he/him) at the mall.Using the previously mentioned trick, you would eliminate one pronoun and say the
sentence, preferably out loud.
I ran into he at the mall.I ran into him at the mall.Which sounds better to you? Undoubtedly, you would say the second sentence
sounds correct, and it is. The pronoun chart at the beginning of this section tells you
that he is a subject pronoun, which cannot be used in this object position. By the
way, Jack and him are objects of the preposition into.
Consider this issue another way:
Jack and (he/him) ran into Mel at the mall.Which pronoun will you use? First, decide what the pronoun’s function is in this
sentence. You probably realize that you are choosing a subject pronoun. You can
look at the pronoun chart to confi rm your choice, or once again, you can eliminate
one word in the subject to fi nd the answer.
Him ran into Mel at the mall.He ran into Mel at the mall.Say it out loud, and your ear will tell you the correct statement.
Subject and object pronouns are also involved in comparisons. It’s very easy to
make a pronoun error when you say or write a comparison. For example:
Cindy liked the movie more than (she/her).The fi rst thing you have to know is that this is an unfi nished comparison. The sen-
tence means that Cindy liked the movie more than someone else did. In fact, the
verb did is understood although not stated. Consequently, if you add did to the end
of the sentence, which would you choose, she or her?