Unit 10
Subject and Object Pronouns
? Can-do Statement: I can identify and use subject and object pronouns correctly to replace nouns in sentences.
1. Target Vocabulary
Study the following core pronouns, their meanings, translations, and how they function in contextual sentences.
| Word / POS | Definition & Translation | Contextual Example |
|---|---|---|
| I pronoun |
Used by a speaker to refer to himself or herself as the subject. tôi |
I am a student in sixth grade. |
| he pronoun |
Used to refer to a male person previously mentioned as the subject. anh ấy / ông ấy |
He plays soccer every weekend. |
| she pronoun |
Used to refer to a female person previously mentioned as the subject. cô ấy / bà ấy |
She likes to read mystery books. |
| we pronoun |
Used to refer to the speaker and one or more other people as the subject. chúng tôi / chúng ta |
We are going to the zoo tomorrow. |
| they pronoun |
Used to refer to two or more people or things as the subject. họ / chúng nó |
They are the best players on the team. |
| me pronoun |
Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to the speaker. tôi (tân ngữ) |
My teacher gave me a new pen. |
| him pronoun |
Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a male. anh ấy (tân ngữ) |
I saw him at the library yesterday. |
| her pronoun |
Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a female. cô ấy (tân ngữ) |
Please tell her that the meeting is at noon. |
| us pronoun |
Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to the speaker and others. chúng tôi (tân ngữ) |
The coach asked us to practice harder. |
| them pronoun |
Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to people or things. họ / chúng nó (tân ngữ) |
I bought some apples and gave them to my friends. |
2. Grammar Explanations & Structures
Grammar Point 1: Subject Pronouns (Đại từ nhân xưng chủ ngữ)
A subject pronoun replaces a noun that is the subject of a sentence. It tells who or what performs the action of the verb and always sits before the main verb.
[Subject Pronoun] + [Verb] + [Rest of sentence]
Examples:
- She is the captain of the debate team. (Replaces: Sarah / The girl)
- They visited Washington, D.C. last summer. (Replaces: My parents / Tom and Mary)
- It is a very beautiful day today. (Replaces: The weather)
Grammar Point 2: Object Pronouns (Đại từ nhân xưng tân ngữ)
An object pronoun replaces a noun that receives the action of a verb or follows a preposition like ‘to’, ‘with’, ‘at’, or ‘for’. It is placed after verbs or prepositions.
[Subject] + [Verb] + [Object Pronoun]
OR
[Subject] + [Verb] + [Preposition] + [Object Pronoun]
Examples:
- The principal congratulated them on their success. (Receives the verb action ‘congratulated’)
- Will you go to the park with us? (Follows the preposition ‘with’)
- I found the key and put it on the table. (Receives the verb action ‘put’)
? Advanced Study: Summary & Rule Alignment
To avoid repetition in English, nouns must match their replacement pronouns perfectly in gender (male/female/neutral) and number (singular/plural). Never use a subject pronoun where an object is required, and vice versa!
| Person / Number | Subject (Before Verb) | Object (After Verb/Preposition) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person Singular | I | me |
| 2nd Person Singular/Plural | you | you |
| 3rd Person Singular (Male) | he | him |
| 3rd Person Singular (Female) | she | her |
| 3rd Person Singular (Thing) | it | it |
| 1st Person Plural | we | us |
| 3rd Person Plural | they | them |
3. Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Vocabulary Matching
Match the English pronoun on the left (1-7) with its correct definition/Vietnamese translation on the right (A-G) by writing the letter in the blanks.
1. I (____)
2. him (____)
3. she (____)
4. us (____)
5. they (____)
6. me (____)
7. them (____)
A. chúng tôi (tân ngữ của động từ/giới từ)
B. cô ấy / bà ấy (chủ ngữ thực hiện hành động)
C. họ / chúng nó (tân ngữ nhận hành động)
D. tôi (chủ ngữ, người đang nói tự xưng)
E. anh ấy (tân ngữ của động từ/giới từ)
F. họ / chúng nó (chủ ngữ thực hiện hành động)
G. tôi (tân ngữ nhận hành động từ chủ thể khác)
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
1 – D: ‘I’ means ‘tôi’ used as a subject performing actions.
2 – E: ‘him’ means ‘anh ấy’ used as an object following verbs/prepositions.
3 – B: ‘she’ means ‘cô ấy’ used as a singular female subject.
4 – A: ‘us’ means ‘chúng tôi’ used as an object.
5 – F: ‘they’ means ‘họ/chúng nó’ acting as a plural subject.
6 – G: ‘me’ means ‘tôi’ acting as an object receiving an action.
7 – C: ‘them’ means ‘họ/chúng nó’ acting as an object receiving an action.
Exercise 2: Gap Fill (Fill in the Blank)
Complete the sentences by writing the correct pronoun (subject or object) into the blank spaces based on the contextual hints.
- 1. David is a fantastic chef. works at a top restaurant downtown. (Hint: Replace David as subject)
- 2. My parents gave a laptop for my birthday. I was so excited! (Hint: Refer to the speaker as object)
- 3. Sophia lost her keys this morning, so her brother helped look for them. (Hint: Replace Sophia as object)
- 4. Peter and I are studying together because have an exam tomorrow. (Hint: Replace Peter and I as subject)
- 5. The box is heavy, so please do not lift by yourself. (Hint: Replace ‘the box’ as object)
- 6. Look at those kids! are playing beautifully in the garden. (Hint: Replace ‘those kids’ as subject)
- 7. Our teacher asked to submit our assignments before noon. (Hint: Replace the plural speaker group as object)
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
1. He: ‘David’ is a single male person. Since the blank precedes the verb ‘works’, a subject pronoun is needed.
2. me: The speaker says ‘I was so excited’, proving the object of the giving action is the speaker (‘me’).
3. her: ‘Sophia’ is female, and since it follows the action verb ‘helped’, we use the object pronoun ‘her’.
4. we: ‘Peter and I’ includes the speaker, creating a plural group. It sits before the verb ‘have’, requiring the subject ‘we’.
5. it: ‘The box’ is an inanimate singular object, placed after the verb ‘lift’, requiring ‘it’.
6. They: ‘Those kids’ is a plural third-person noun phrase before the verb ‘are’, requiring ‘They’.
7. us: The hint shows ‘our assignments’, meaning the object must be the speaker’s group, which is ‘us’.
Exercise 3: Multiple Choice Question
Choose the correct pronoun to complete each sentence.
- 1. Mr. Green wants to talk to _____ about your late homework.
- 2. _____ are going to visit our grandparents in the countryside this weekend.
- 3. I saw Mary today, and she told me that _____ passed her driving test.
- 4. The teacher gave the text books to Tom and Lucas, then asked _____ to read aloud.
- 5. Do you like this dress? My mother made it for _____.
- 6. The new dog is friendly, but our cat does not like _____ yet.
- 7. Anna and _____ went to the bookstore to buy some new notebooks.
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
1. B (him): Follows the preposition ‘to’, requiring an object pronoun. ‘him’ is the only object option.
2. C (We): Before the verb phrase ‘are going’, a plural subject pronoun matching ‘our grandparents’ is needed (‘We’).
3. B (she): Before the verb ‘passed’, replacing Mary as a singular female subject.
4. A (them): Follows the verb ‘asked’, acting as the object pronoun representing Tom and Lucas.
5. D (me): Follows the preposition ‘for’, which demands an object pronoun like ‘me’.
6. A (it): Replaces ‘the new dog’ as an object receiving the action after the verb ‘like’.
7. B (I): Part of a compound subject before the main verb ‘went’. (Anna and I = We).
Exercise 4: True or False
Read the sentences below. Decide if the underlined pronoun is used correctly (True) or incorrectly (False). If False, consider what the correct form should be.
- 1. My brother is older than me, but him cannot drive a car yet. [ True / False ]
- 2. The manager called us to discuss the upcoming school project. [ True / False ]
- 3. Mrs. Smith bought a cake and split it evenly between they. [ True / False ]
- 4. She and her best friend go to the cinema every Saturday afternoon. [ True / False ]
- 5. I forgot my lunchbox today, so John shared his sandwich with I. [ True / False ]
- 6. The birds are flying high, and they look beautiful in the blue sky. [ True / False ]
- 7. Can you please pass him the salt shaker from across the table? [ True / False ]
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
1. False: ‘him’ is an object pronoun but here it sits before the verb ‘cannot drive’. It must be replaced by the subject pronoun He.
2. True: ‘us’ is used correctly as an object pronoun following the transitive action verb ‘called’.
3. False: ‘they’ is a subject pronoun but it follows the preposition ‘between’. It must be changed to the object pronoun them.
4. True: ‘She’ is a subject pronoun correctly joined in a compound subject before the action verb ‘go’.
5. False: ‘I’ is a subject pronoun following the preposition ‘with’. It must be changed to the object pronoun me.
6. True: ‘they’ correctly serves as the plural subject pronoun replacing ‘The birds’.
7. True: ‘him’ is correctly utilized as an indirect object following the imperative verb ‘pass’.
Exercise 5: Sentence Reordering
Rearrange the scrambled words to form grammatically correct sentences containing subject or object pronouns.
-
1. yesterday / at / mall / the / saw / him / we / .
Your answer: ______________________________________________________________________ -
2. very / math / she / homework / helped / with / me / my / .
Your answer: ______________________________________________________________________ -
3. tomorrow / park / the / they / coming / with / us / to / are / .
Your answer: ______________________________________________________________________ -
4. a / teacher / textbook / new / gave / them / our / .
Your answer: ______________________________________________________________________ -
5. delicious / baked / apple / pie / he / a / for / her / .
Your answer: ______________________________________________________________________ -
6. cannot / find / where / keys / I / are / they / ?
Your answer: ______________________________________________________________________ -
7. easily / test / passed / because / studied / hard / we / the / .
Your answer: ______________________________________________________________________
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
1. We saw him at the mall yesterday. (We = Subject pronoun, him = Object pronoun receiving ‘saw’).
2. She helped me with my math homework. (She = Subject pronoun, me = Object pronoun receiving ‘helped’).
3. They are coming to the park with us tomorrow. (They = Subject pronoun, us = Object pronoun after preposition ‘with’).
4. Our teacher gave them a new textbook. (Our teacher = Subject phrase, them = Object pronoun receiving ‘gave’).
5. He baked a delicious apple pie for her. (He = Subject pronoun, her = Object pronoun following ‘for’).
6. I cannot find keys, where are they? (I = Subject pronoun, they = Subject pronoun replacing plural keys).
7. We passed the test easily because we studied hard. (We = Subject pronoun used across clauses).
Exercise 6: Grammar Selection
Underline or circle the correct pronoun form inside the brackets to make the sentence grammatically accurate.
- 1. My cousin lives in Canada. [ He / Him ] sends email updates to my family every month.
- 2. Please tell [ she / her ] that the school bus is arriving in five minutes.
- 3. The stray cat was starving, so we left food out for [ it / they ] last night.
- 4. [ They / Them ] built a giant snowman in the front yard after the storm.
- 5. Regular physical exercise helps [ we / us ] stay healthy and energetic.
- 6. Uncle Bob promised to take [ I / me ] fishing at the lake this coming weekend.
- 7. Since the children were making noise, their father asked [ they / them ] to be quiet.
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
1. He: Acts as the subject executing the action verb ‘sends’.
2. her: Acts as the object receiving the command after the imperative verb ‘tell’.
3. it: Follows the preposition ‘for’ and replaces the singular noun ‘the stray cat’.
4. They: Acts as the plural subject performing the action verb ‘built’.
5. us: Acts as the object following the action verb ‘helps’.
6. me: Acts as the object pronoun following the verb structure ‘to take’.
7. them: Follows the verb ‘asked’, acting as the target object group being spoken to.
