The use of pronouns in speech avoids tautologies and replaces proper nouns. It is pronouns that are an integral part of any statement, since they replace the names of both animate and inanimate objects (nominative case). As for object pronouns in English, they have a number of functions that need to be considered.
Case of personal pronouns in English
In English, there are only two subtypes of personal pronouns - subjective (nominative) and objective (objective). They have a number of differences and features in the language. The first answers the questions: who?, what? And the object case of personal pronouns in English will answer the questions of indirect cases of the Russian language, namely: whom? to whom? by whom? about whom? This makes learning English grammar a little easier than Russian.
It is necessary to clearly distinguish between both forms of pronouns,to be able to use them correctly in sentences. Therefore, we need to consider them in comparison.
Object case
As you can see from the table, each object pronoun in English refers to the corresponding form of the subject. The pronoun me [mi:] refers to the first person singular and is translated: me, me, me, about me. For example, tell me - tell me. In the plural, the pronoun we [wi:] changes to us [ʌs] - us, us, us. For example, in the sentence: Let us come in - let us in.
The second person pronoun you [ju:] cannot be changed - you, you, and acquires other meanings: you, you, you, you, you, you. For example, I will call you later - I will call you later.
Speaking of third parties, you need to use: him [him] - him, him, them; her [hɜ:] - her, her, her; it [it] - him, her, him, her, them, her. For example, I am with him - I am with him; he loves her - he loves her; you have a paint, use it - you have paint, use it. At the same time, it should be noted that the possessive pronoun her [hɜ:] - her, absolutely converges with the object pronoun, so you need to be careful about its use in speech. The pronoun them [ð] does not change either in pronunciation or spelling: Let's go with them - let's go with them.
Place of object pronouns in a sentence
Only having mastered personal pronouns in the nominative case, you can proceed to familiarize yourself with the object case of pronouns. In English, their use in sentenceshas a slightly different connotation, and it is not always clear how to correctly translate a phrase with such pronouns. That is why you need to clearly know their place in the sentence.
Unlike the first group, the second pronouns do not act as the subject, but are the complement of the predicate. Therefore, they usually come after the verb: they don't want to know us - they don't want to know us. But there are cases when object pronouns act as a predicate, for example: It's me.
Often they appear in the questions: Can you help me? - Can you help me? Comparisons also use object pronouns, for example: My brother is elder than me.
Several object pronouns in one sentence is not uncommon in English. This is typical of more complex expression constructions: he asked me to take her with us - he asked me to take her with us.
There are verbs that must be followed by a preposition with an object. Such verbs include: to agree, to look, to listen, to wait, etc. For example, will you listen to me? – Will you listen to me? In such cases, prepositions are used before pronouns: at, with, to, for, of, etc.
The following video will help you better understand the use of certain prepositions before object pronouns. Those who are just starting to learn English should focus on their pronunciation.
Exercise
The use of pronouns must be learned on an automatic level. For thisYou need to practice your skills with the help of different exercises. You should start with simple exercises for practicing object pronouns in English.
Exercise 1. Replace these nouns with pronouns in the object case.
Mother, table, Sam, book, cat, boy, children, flower, snow, friend, I and my father.
Exercise 2. Fill in the gaps with pronouns in the objective case.
- Why are you looking at that poster? Do you like _?
- The girl is singing. Please, listen to _!
- Dan asked you on date? Will you go with _?
- Neighbors are having a party. Go and tell _ to the music down.
- We are going to the picnic on Saturday. Will you go with _?
- I'm very angry! Listen to _!
- You are mad. I'm not going anywhere with _!
Exercise 3. Fill in the gaps with object pronouns.
To clearly master the rules for using personal pronouns in English, you should practice them in parallel in exercises. For example:
The correct and appropriate use of personal pronouns in speech indicates its rather high level, since they are part of such complex grammatical structures as: complex object and complex subject.
Starting to study pronouns, you should immediately put everything about object pronouns in English "on the shelves". In this case, further language acquisition will proceed withoutsignificant difficulties.
