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Complete English Grammar Rules_ Examples, Exceptions, Exercises, and Everything You Need to Master Proper Grammar ( PDFDrive )-76

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Definition
The	English	language	has	largely	discarded	its	case	system,	which	is	the	manner
by	which	a	noun	is	inflected	depending	on	its	grammatical	function	as	a	subject
or	object	in	a	sentence.	English	largely	uses	prepositions	to	accomplish	this	now,
but	personal	pronouns	are	one	part	of	English	in	which	the	case	system	is	still
active,	being	inflected	depending	on	whether	they	function	as	a	subject,	object,
possessive	determiner,	or	possessive	pronoun.
Subjective	Case
When	a	personal	pronoun	is	acting	as	the	subject	of	a	verb	(that	is,	it	is	the
person	or	thing	doing	the	action),	it	is	said	to	be	in	the	subjective	case.	For
instance:
•	“I	know	that	she	said	that.”	(Both	pronouns	are	subjective,	as	both	are	agents
of	their	respective	actions.)
•	“He	told	her	to	be	quiet.”	(Here,	only	he	is	in	the	subjective	case;	her,	the
recipient	or	“object”	of	his	action,	is	in	the	objective	case.)
Objective	Case
A	personal	pronoun	is	in	the	objective	case	when	it	is	a	direct	or	indirect	object
of	a	verb,	or	else	if	it	is	the	object	or	a	preposition.
A	direct	object	directly	receives	the	action	of	a	verb.	For	example:
•	“Please	send	them	in	straight	away.”
•	“Take	him	away!”
An	indirect	object,	on	the	other	hand,	is	the	recipient	of	the	direct	object—it
therefore	indirectly	receives	the	action	of	the	verb	via	the	direct	object.	For
example:
•	“Please	tell	me	any	news	immediately!”
Here,	any	news	is	acting	as	the	direct	object	of	the	verb	tell—it	is	the	thing	being
told.	Me,	on	the	other	hand,	is	looking	to	receive	any	news	by	means	of	the
action	of	tell,	making	it	the	indirect	object.
•	“I	can’t	believe	he	brought	you	flowers.	How	sweet!”
Again,	you	is	receiving	the	flowers,	which	is	the	direct	object	of	brought.	Be
careful	with	the	personal	pronouns	you	and	it,	however—their	subjective	and

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