Pronouns can function either as a subject or object of a sentence.
Pronoun as Subject
example:
"She is a smart student."
What/who is the sentence about? She.
'she' is the subject. Whoever that person is, it reveals that the person is a female. Typically, one will know who this person is because the name will be mentioned in the previous sentence. The name could even appear in the same sentence.
For example:
"Kelly watched the newly released movie. She is very happy."
or
"Kelly watched the newly released movie, and she is very happy."
In the sentence “She is very happy.”, one can tell that 'she' refers to “Kelly” because her name appeared in the first sentence or in the previous clause. The pronoun 'she' is used as a substitute for 'Kelly'.
Subjects often appear at the beginning of the sentence or clause.
Pronoun as an Object
There are two types of objects: 1.) Direct Object 2.) Indirect Object
Direct Object
Pronouns as direct objects receive the action directly. They are the ones directly acted upon.
For example:
"Lucas hurt her."
Who is the subject? Lucas because he is the one doing the action.
What did Lucas do? Hurt someone.
Whom did he hurt? Her.
The person referred to by the pronoun 'her' is the direct receiver of the action Lucas did. Therefore, 'her' is the direct object. That person is the one being acted upon.
More examples:
"Mandy threw it."
"They saw her."
"Bobbie told them.
Indirect Object
Pronouns as indirect objects receive the action indirectly. The direct object receives the action first, then the indirect object receives the action second.
Example:
"Lucas gave her flowers."
The indirect object in this sentence is the pronoun 'her' because she received the direct object.
Lucas acted upon the flowers first. Then acted upon her second, which means to say, Lucas touched the flowers first so that he could give them to her, whoever this person was.
Another example:
"Maxine gave it to him."
There are two pronouns in the sentence: 1.) it 2.) him
The sentence pattern is not the same as in the first example. Therefore, we cannot directly assume that 'it' is the indirect object. Because, firsthand, Maxine acted toward the thing first which is represented by the pronoun 'it'. She touched the thing (it) first. She then acted toward him, second. Therefore, 'him' is the indirect object while 'it' is the direct one.
See more about pronouns as object
Pronoun as Object of Preposition
To be an object of preposition is to be part of a prepositional phrase.
A phrase is a group of two or more words serving a part of the sentence.
A prepositional phrase is one consisting of a preposition and its object.
When a pronoun is part of a prepositional phrase, it is called an 'object of preposition'.
Objects of preposition often appear after their prepositions.
examples:
"I am working on it."
"The decision depends on them."
"You bring up the best in me."
"Maddie is very important to us."
As mentioned earlier, the objects of prepositions often follow after their prepositions, just like in the examples above.
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