Object Pronouns Made Easy: The Key to Simple Sentences

Object pronouns are a key element of daily English conversation. Imagine the following scenario. Your friend Tony is talking about a new dog he just adopted. He wants to tell you all about it – how the dog loves to chew shoes, how he loves to take walks with the dog, how happy he is to be reunited after a day at work. Instead of saying ‘my dog’ a lot of times, Tony can refer to the dog as ‘it’ (or maybe him or her – we’ll talk about this later).

Object pronouns like it, him and her make sentences less repetitive and more natural. In this article we will break down the use of object pronouns with practical tips and lots and lots of examples.

What are object pronouns?

A basic English sentence has a subject, a verb and an object. The subject is the person or thing doing the action, the verb is the action and the object is what is affected by the action. For example, in the sentence, “Hannah loved your present,” the subject is Hannah, the verb is loved, and the object is your present.

But we are not just talking about objects, we are talking about object pronouns. So what is a pronoun, you might ask? A pronoun is a word that stands in the place of a noun when, for whatever reason, we don’t want to mention that noun. The sentence “Hanna loved your present” could become “She loved it.” In this case the subject pronoun she replaces the word ‘Hannah’ and the object pronoun it replaces ‘your present.’

In most cases, the object pronoun goes right after the verb. Also, object pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they replace, so there are masculine and feminine pronouns and singular and plural pronouns. The table below shows the English object pronouns.

Let’s see these in action with a few examples:

• Please call me when you get home.
• She thanked you for your help.
• I saw him at the park yesterday.
• We need to pick her up from the airport.
• Can you hand me the remote? I can’t reach it.
• Can you join us for dinner tonight?
• I’ll see you all at the meeting tomorrow.
• I told them about our wedding.

Subject and object pronouns

So how are object pronouns different from subject pronouns? Look at this table to compare the two forms.

You might have noticed right away that in some cases (you, it) the subject and object pronouns are the same. One less thing to worry about, then! With the other pronouns, you need to know if the pronoun is the subject or object of the sentence. If the pronoun is doing the action of the verb, it’s the subject, and you will use a pronoun from the first column. If the pronoun comes after the verb (it is receiving the action), then it’s the object, so use a pronoun from the second column.

The table below has examples of each type of pronoun used in a sentence.

Using you vs. him or her

Some languages do not have different words for you and him or her. But in English, these pronouns are important. The word you is used to address someone directly. Him (for a male) and her (for a female) are used to refer to a person you are speaking about.

Using you vs. them

The same goes for you and them in the plural. While you refers to a group of people that you are speaking to directly, them refers to a group of people (or objects) that you are talking about. Here are some examples:

• I appreciate all of you working on this project with such commitment.
• Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?
• We want to thank you all for coming to our wedding.
• I heard about the new team members. Have you met them yet?
• The children left their toys everywhere. Can you help me pick them up?
• Our neighbors are moving away. We should give them a farewell gift.

In these examples you might have noticed something else. When using the word you, it’s not always clear whether you are talking to one or more than one person. In order to specify that we are referring to a group of people instead of just one person, it is quite common to say you all:

• Can I get drinks for you all?
• I can’t believe how much work you all have done!
• Is it okay if I join you all for dinner tonight?

How to use it

The object pronoun it can be used in a number of ways, like in the examples below:

• I bought a new laptop. I love using it for work.
  (‘It’ refers to an object – a new laptop.)
  

• We adopted a stray cat. We named it Whiskers.
  (‘It’ refers to an animal – a stray cat.)
  

• They discussed the importance of creativity. Everyone values it.
  (‘It’ refers to an abstract concept – creativity.)
  

• I heard it’s going to rain heavily tomorrow. We should prepare for it.
  (‘It’ refers to the weather – rain.)
  

Although we often use the word it to refer to animals, it is common to use him or her with beloved house pets. This feels more normal when referring to an animal that you have affection for.

• We adopted a stray cat. We named her Whiskers.

Besides that, basically anything that doesn’t have a gender is referred to with the object pronoun it.

Fun fact: Many sailors refer to boats with the pronoun her, as in the following example:

• The captain steered the ship into the harbor, making sure not to damage her.

Don’t worry, though, if you’re not a sailor you won’t need to do that!

The object pronoun it can also work as a dummy object in many sentences. Look at these examples:

• We made it through the storm without any damage.
• I don’t like it when people interrupt me.
• She found it difficult to maintain good communication.

In these sentences it is a placeholder for an event, situation or idea mentioned or implied by the context.

Singular them and non-binary pronouns

As we have already seen, object pronouns agree in gender with the noun that they replace. This can pose a number of problems because many names in English don’t specify the gender of the person that they are referring to. Words like doctor, professor and teacher, as well as words like friend, cousin and colleague, can refer to both men and women.

In cases like these, since it would be wrong to just presume the gender of the person that we are referring to, many English speakers use the pronoun they or them to refer to that person.

Look at these examples:

• Person A: My cousin is getting married next summer.
  Person B: Wonderful! Ask them if they need a wedding photographer, I know a great one.
  
• The new manager starts next week. Have you met them?
• I saw someone drop their wallet, but my husband picked it up and returned it to them.
• The teacher said a new student will be joining our class. I’m looking forward to meeting them.

This gender neutral use of the pronouns they and them (sometimes referred to as ‘singular they’) has been documented in English for centuries.

More recently, with the popularization of inclusive language, they and them can be used to refer to a non-binary person (someone who doesn’t want to identify as either male or female). In that case, even with traditionally female names like Sarah, Ann and Laura or male names like John, Peter and Mark, we can use they to refer to a single non-binary person:

• Alex is coming over later. I can’t wait to see them.
• John is organizing this event. You should coordinate with them.
• Mary had a great idea the other day. We should include them in this discussion.

It has become common in recent years for people to add their ‘preferred pronouns’ to their personal information. It’s also possible that you could be asked what your pronouns are. In that case you could answer with the male pronouns (he and him), female pronouns (she and her) or gender neutral pronouns (they and them).

Apart from they and them, there is a long list of other non-binary pronouns some people use, like ze/hir, xe/xem, ey/em and many others. Just go with someone’s preferred pronouns and you will be fine. And if you happen to make a mistake with this, don’t worry too much – it happens! In that case just apologize, correct yourself and move on.

Wrapping up

To sum up, object pronouns are essential words that replace nouns to keep our conversations and writing concise and clear. It’s important to distinguish between subject and object pronouns as these are often different words in English. Also, remember that they and them are gender-neutral pronouns often used for non-binary individuals or when someone’s gender is not known.

If all this sounds a little confusing, don’t worry! Keep practising and you will master object pronouns in no time!