Object pronouns in English
I need help.
This sentence is about the person "I"
I is the subject of the sentence.
I is a subject pronoun.
I need help. Can you help me?
ME is the person receiving the help.
ME is the object of this action.
ME is an object pronoun.
We cannot say "I need help. Can you help I?
No, this is not correct.
Look at these sentences and questions.
I need help. Can you help me?
You need help. Can I help you?
He needs help. Can you help him?
She needs help. Can you help her?
It needs help. Can you help it?
We need help. Can you help us?
They need help. Can you help them?
Notice how YOU and IT do not change in form.
The subject and object pronouns have the same form for YOU and IT.
Now, look at this sentence.
I sent her some flowers.
Do we know who her refers to?
No. It could be my friend, my sister, my mother, my wife... we don't know.
We use object pronouns when we have already specified or mentioned
the person we're talking about.
We know who the person is.
Why did we use HER in this sentence?
Probably because we have already talked about that person.
For example:
It's Angelica's birthday today. I sent her some flowers.
Now we know the flowers are for Angelica because i mentioned her name before.
I sent her means I sent Angelica.
The person receiving the flowers is Angelica.
But, we don't repeat the name immediately if it has just been mentioned.
It's Angelica's birthday today. I sent Angelica some flowers.
This sounds repetitive!
That is why we use object pronouns to avoid repetition.
Compare these questions:
Can you tell John I will miss John?
You can see that saying John twice in this question sounds repetitive.
How can we make this sound more natural?
By using an object pronoun.
Can you tell John I will miss him?
We use the object pronoun HIM in the second question to avoid sounding repetitive.
Compare these two sentences:
Emma sent me some flowers. I sent her some chocolate.
Who is giving the flowers in the first sentence?
Emma is giving the flowers.
Who is receiving the flowers in the first sentence?
Me. I am receiving the flowers.
Who is giving the chocolate in the second sentence?
I am giving the chocolate.
Who is receiving the chocolate in the second sentence?
Her, which means she or Emma is receiving the chocolate.
You may have noticed in all the previous examples that the object pronoun goes after the verb.
It is verb plus object pronoun.
Can you help me?
I send her some chocolate.
I will miss him.
You can take them now.
THEM may refer to people or things.
Sometimes object pronouns go after a preposition.
The word order is preposition plus object pronoun.
Where is Philip? I'm waiting for him.
Do you want to come with us?
Why are you looking at me?
Listen to her!
We will learn more about the word order of direct and indirect object pronouns in another lesson.
Let's practice.
Complete the blank spaces with the correct object pronoun.
Click pause if you need more time.
1.
Mary is early. Can you tell her to wait please?
2.
We're making pizza. Do you want to help us?
3.
Your brother is noisy. Tell him to be quiet.
4.
Can you tell me the truth? I need to know.
5.
I have a new book. I want to read it now.
6.
I have many books. I read them at night.
7.
You're busy so i will call you later.
8.
Jack and Jill had an accident.
I took them to hospital.
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