By Quame Asomaning
Last week we started looking at how to use the personal pronouns, either in the subject or object case.
We said generally the subject cases of the personal pronouns — I, he, she, we and they — are used to perform actions or as subjects of verbs, while the object cases — me, him, her, us and them — are used to receive or suffer action, as in:
Advertisement
I caned them mercilessly.
We punished her when she came to school late.
They beat me.
She loves us so much.
We also said the pronoun to use (whether subject case or object case) after the word than is determined by writing the sentence in full.
Egs:
Kofi is taller than (she/her).
Kofi is taller than she is tall, hence:
Kofi is taller than she.
The new girl is smarter than (we/us).
The new girl is smarter than we are smart, hence:
The new girl is smarter than we.
Note that we apply the same principle if we have to use a pronoun after the expression such as — that pronoun is determined by writing the sentence in full.
Egs:
The headmaster doesn't like lazy boys such as (he/him).
The headmaster doesn't like lazy boys such as he is, hence:
The headmaster doesn't like lazy boys such as he.
Obedient students such as (I/me) are always in the good books of their teachers.
Obedient students such as I am are always in the good books of their teachers, hence:
Obedient students such as I are always in the good books of their teachers.
Note again that after a preposition, the pronoun to use should be in the object case.
That explains why we say or write:
Between you and me, we must do this work (NOT Between you and I, we must do this work).
We also write or say:
People can't tell the difference between the man and her.
Other examples are:
These drinks are on them.
In church the other day we sat by her.
The boys threw stones at us.
• To be continued