An object pronoun replaces the noun receiving an action in a sentence. Unlike subject pronouns, which replace the doer of the action, object pronouns act as direct or indirect objects of verbs.
Object pronouns function as receivers of the action described by the verb. They answer the questions "whom?" or "what?" in a sentence. For example:
In the second sentence, "it" replaces "the book," acting as the direct object of the verb "gave."
English has seven object pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, and them. These correspond to the subject pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, and they. The table below compares subject and object pronouns:
| Subject Pronoun | Object Pronoun |
|---|---|
| I | me |
| you | you |
| he | him |
| she | her |
| it | it |
| we | us |
| they | them |
Object pronouns appear after action verbs, prepositions, and as objects of infinitives. For instance:
Note that "you" serves as both a subject and object pronoun. For example, "You gave the book to you" is correct but awkward. Rewriting it as "You gave the book to yourself" clarifies the meaning.
People often confuse object pronouns with subject pronouns or reflexive pronouns. Subject pronouns start sentences or follow linking verbs like "to be." Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, etc.) refer back to the subject. For example:
Consider the sentence: "John told Maria that he loved her." Here, "he" is a subject pronoun replacing John, while "her" is an object pronoun replacing Maria. Switching them creates confusion: "John told Maria that she loved him" implies Maria loves John, changing the sentence's meaning.