Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and today we’ll be talking about subjective and objective. Not my subjective opinion and your objective assessment, but two different forms of pronouns.
Remember, a pronoun takes the place of a noun. When it’s used as the subject of a sentence—the thing doing the action—it comes in the form I, you, he, she, it, we, they. So, for example: You and I are going to the store.
When it’s used as the object of a sentence or a prepositional phrase—basically, as the thing having the action done to it—then it comes in the form me, you, him, her, it, us, them. So: My friends made food for you and me.
It’s not always the case, but typically a pronoun in the subjective form comes near the beginning of a sentence, while a pronoun in the objective form comes later in the sentence. This is especially true if you’re good about avoiding the passive voice—but THAT’s a whole other topic.
That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.