Revised as of
13 Feb 2023
Objective Personal Pronouns
me
youhim
her
itus
themwhom whomever
“The objective case is the overall term for objects, whether they’re direct objects, indirect objects, or objects of a preposition. They’re used for nouns and objective personal pronouns which function as objects” (Shrives).
Three Types of Objective Case:
Mentions of the accusative case and the dative case crop up in grammar books and online sites. The accusative case functions to point out the direct object and is more frequently used when studying a language other than English. The dative case functions to point out the indirect object.
Grammar Explanations is . . .
. . . an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.
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| Direct Object | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Definition: A direct object is the object of an action verb — what the verb is affecting, a.k.a., it receives the action.
Rule: Find the direct object by first finding the verb. Then ask what? or whom? |
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| Indirect Object | ||||||||||||||||
| Definition: An indirect object receives the direct object.
A verb that acts to / for whom or to / for what followed by a noun or pronoun which is always in front of the indirect object, but the words to or for are never actually used. Rule: Find the indirect object by first finding the direct object (see the direct object table above). Then ask who/what will receive that direct object. |
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| Object of a Preposition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definition: The noun, noun phrase, noun clause, or objective personal pronoun after a preposition (see a list of common prepositions).
Caution: The object does not always follow the preposition. |
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Resources for Objective Case – Direct & Indirect Objects . . . & Objects of a Preposition
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Shrives, Craig. “What Is the Objective Case? (with Examples).” Grammar Monster. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/objective_case.htm>.
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