Subject Pronouns (I, He) vs. Object Pronouns (Me, Him) – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Choose the best option (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence.
You are hanging out with a friend, showing them pictures of your favorite celebrities, music bands, and family members on your phone. You are expressing how much you like, love, or hate them. Pay close attention to whether the missing word is doing the action (Subject) or receiving the action (Object).
1 Pointing to a picture of a famous female singer: “I absolutely love Taylor Swift. I listen to ______ every single day.”
(A) she
(B) her
(C) hers
(D) him
2 Showing a poster of your favorite male actor: “This is Tom Holland. I really like ______ a lot.”
(A) he
(B) his
(C) him
(D) her
3 Pointing to a famous K-pop band on your screen: “BTS is my favorite music group. Do you know ______?”
(A) their
(B) them
(C) they
(D) it
4 Explaining a romantic song to your friend: “In this song, the singer looks at the camera and says, ‘I will always love ______’.”
(A) your
(B) you
(C) yours
(D) they
5 Showing a picture of your grandmother: “My grandma is very kind. She always calls my sister and ______ on the weekend.”
(A) me
(B) I
(C) my
(D) mine
6 Pointing to a picture of your parents on holiday: “These are my parents in Paris. I miss ______ very much.”
(A) they
(B) them
(C) their
(D) us
7 Showing a selfie you took with a famous male pop star: “Look at this! I am standing right next to ______ in this picture!”
(A) he
(B) his
(C) me
(D) him
8 Showing a photo of a beautiful actress: “______ is a great actress, and everyone loves ______.”
(A) Her / she
(B) She / she
(C) She / her
(D) Her / her
9 Looking at a family photo from last year: “Look at my grandparents. ______ live in London, and I visit ______ every summer.”
(A) They / them
(B) Them / they
(C) They / their
(D) Them / them
10 Pointing to the villain in a movie trailer on your phone: “I really hate this character. Do you hate ______ too?”
(A) him
(B) he
(C) his
(D) us
11 Talking about a band you and your sister both love: “My sister and I love this band. The music makes ______ very happy.”
(A) we
(B) them
(C) us
(D) our
12 Showing a picture of your favorite uncle: “This is my uncle John. I often play chess with ______ on Sundays.”
(A) he
(B) him
(C) his
(D) them
13 Showing a picture of your two little sisters: “I have two sisters. Sometimes they are noisy, but I love ______ both.”
(A) they
(B) their
(C) us
(D) them
14 Showing a concert ticket you just bought: “I bought a concert ticket for my mom. I bought it for ______.”
(A) she
(B) her
(C) hers
(D) him
15 Pointing to a romantic singer on TV: “This singer is amazing. He wrote this beautiful song for you and ______.”
(A) I
(B) my
(C) me
(D) us
16 Showing a picture of your older brother: “My brother is my best friend. I trust ______ more than anyone else.”
(A) him
(B) he
(C) his
(D) me
17 Playing your favorite love song for your friend: “This is my favorite song. ______ makes me cry, but I still listen to ______.”
(A) It / its
(B) Its / it
(C) He / him
(D) It / it
18 Looking at a poster of your favorite rock band: “Look at this band! Let ______ go to their concert tonight!”
(A) we
(B) our
(C) us
(D) them
19 Talking about your relationship with your girlfriend: “I really like her, and ______ likes ______ too.”
(A) her / I
(B) she / me
(C) she / my
(D) her / me
20 Showing a graduation photo with your parents: “Look at this picture of my parents. I am so proud of ______.”
(A) they
(B) them
(C) their
(D) us
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) her
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Taylor Swift” is female, and she is receiving the action of the verb “listen to”. Therefore, we need the female object pronoun “her”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “she” is a Common Mistake (using a subject pronoun after a verb/preposition). (C) “hers” is a Structural Error (possessive pronoun). (D) “him” is a Meaning Trap (wrong gender).
2 (C) him
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Tom Holland” is male, and he receives the action of “like”. The object pronoun is “him”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “he” is a Common Mistake (subject pronoun). (B) “his” is a Structural Error (possessive adjective). (D) “her” is a Meaning Trap (wrong gender).
3 (B) them
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “BTS” is a group of people (plural). The object pronoun for “they” is “them”.
- Error Analysis: (C) “they” is a Common Mistake. (A) “their” is a Structural Error. (D) “it” is a Meaning Trap (learners might think of the band as a single “it”, but when asking if you know the members, “them” is the natural choice, and “it” sounds robotic for people).
4 (B) you
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “You” remains the same in both subject and object forms. The singer loves “you” (the listener).
- Error Analysis: (D) “they” is a Common Mistake. (A) “your” is a Structural Error. (C) “yours” is also a Structural Error.
5 (A) me
- Why it’s correct (The Key): The grandma is doing the action (calling). She calls “my sister and me”. “Me” is the object pronoun receiving the call.
- Error Analysis: (B) “I” is a very Common Mistake (learners frequently say “my sister and I” even when it’s the object of the sentence). (C) “my” is a Structural Error. (D) “mine” is a Structural Error.
6 (B) them
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Parents” is plural. They receive the action of “miss”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “they” is a Common Mistake. (C) “their” is a Structural Error. (D) “us” is a Meaning Trap (you don’t miss “us” in this context).
7 (D) him
- Why it’s correct (The Key): After a preposition like “next to”, you must use an object pronoun. A male pop star becomes “him”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “he” is a Common Mistake. (B) “his” is a Structural Error. (C) “me” is a Meaning Trap (“I am standing next to me” makes no sense).
8 (C) She / her
- Why it’s correct (The Key): In the first clause, she is doing the action (is an actress) -> Subject “She”. In the second clause, she receives the action (everyone loves) -> Object “her”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “Her / she” is a Common Mistake (reversing the subject and object). (B) “She / she” is a Structural Error. (D) “Her / her” is a Structural Error.
9 (A) They / them
- Why it’s correct (The Key): First blank: Grandparents do the action (live) -> Subject “They”. Second blank: Grandparents receive the action (visit) -> Object “them”.
- Error Analysis: (B) “Them / they” is a Common Mistake. (C) “They / their” is a Structural Error. (D) “Them / them” is a Structural Error.
10 (A) him
- Why it’s correct (The Key): The male character receives the action of “hate”.
- Error Analysis: (B) “he” is a Common Mistake. (C) “his” is a Structural Error. (D) “us” is a Meaning Trap (wrong person).
11 (C) us
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “My sister and I” = We. When “We” receive the action (the music makes…), it becomes the object “us”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “we” is a Common Mistake. (D) “our” is a Structural Error. (B) “them” is a Meaning Trap (the music makes you and your sister happy, not some other people).
12 (B) him
- Why it’s correct (The Key): Uncle John (male) receives the action after the preposition “with”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “he” is a Common Mistake. (C) “his” is a Structural Error. (D) “them” is a Meaning Trap (he is only one person).
13 (D) them
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Sisters” (plural) receive the action “love”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “they” is a Common Mistake. (B) “their” is a Structural Error. (C) “us” is a Meaning Trap.
14 (B) her
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Mom” receives the ticket. After the preposition “for”, we use the object pronoun “her”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “she” is a Common Mistake. (C) “hers” is a Structural Error. (D) “him” is a Meaning Trap (wrong gender for mom).
15 (C) me
- Why it’s correct (The Key): After the preposition “for”, we need object pronouns. “You and me” is correct because both are receiving the song.
- Error Analysis: (A) “I” is a very Common Mistake (people often hypercorrect and say “for you and I”, which is grammatically wrong). (B) “my” is a Structural Error. (D) “us” is a Meaning Trap (the word “you” is already there, so “us” makes it repetitive and weird).
16 (A) him
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Brother” (male) receives the action “trust”.
- Error Analysis: (B) “he” is a Common Mistake. (C) “his” is a Structural Error. (D) “me” is a Meaning Trap (“I trust me” changes the context completely).
17 (D) It / it
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Song” is a thing (“it”). The pronoun “it” is exactly the same for both Subject and Object forms.
- Error Analysis: (A) “It / its” is a Structural Error (“its” is possessive). (B) “Its / it” is a Structural Error. (C) “He / him” is a Meaning Trap (a song is an object, not a human).
18 (C) us
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Let’s” is short for “Let us”. “Us” is the object pronoun following the verb “let”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “we” is a Common Mistake. (B) “our” is a Structural Error. (D) “them” is a Meaning Trap (the speaker wants to go with the friend, so it must be “us”).
19 (B) she / me
- Why it’s correct (The Key): The girlfriend does the action (Subject = she) and the speaker receives the action (Object = me).
- Error Analysis: (A) “her / I” is a Common Mistake (swapping subject and object positions). (C) “she / my” is a Structural Error. (D) “her / me” is a Structural Error.
20 (B) them
- Why it’s correct (The Key): Parents (plural). After the preposition “of”, we use the object pronoun “them”.
- Error Analysis: (A) “they” is a Common Mistake. (C) “their” is a Structural Error. (D) “us” is a Meaning Trap.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The Golden Rule of Action: If a person is doing the action, use a Subject Pronoun (I, You, He, She, It, We, They). These usually come at the beginning of a sentence.
- Receiving the Emotion: If a person is receiving an emotion or action (after verbs like love, hate, like, miss, know), you MUST use an Object Pronoun (Me, You, Him, Her, It, Us, Them).
- Correct: I love him.
- Incorrect: I love he.
- The Preposition Rule: Always use Object Pronouns after prepositions like with, for, to, of, next to.
- Correct: This is a picture of them.
- Incorrect: This is a picture of they.
- The “You and I” Trap: Many people incorrectly say “He bought a gift for you and I.” Because it comes after “for”, it must be the object form: “He bought a gift for you and me.”