Subject Pronouns (I, He) vs. Object Pronouns (Me, Him) – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Read the conversation about a student showing a new shirt to friends in class. Choose the correct pronoun (A, B, C, or D) to fill in the blank.
1 “Wow, I love your new shirt! Who gave ______ to you?”
(A) him
(B) them
(C) it
(D) its
2 “My grandmother bought it. ______ bought it yesterday at the mall.”
(A) She
(B) Her
(C) He
(D) Hers
3 “She bought it for my birthday. She gave it to ______ this morning before school.”
(A) I
(B) me
(C) my
(D) us
4 “It is a very beautiful color. Do ______ like it?”
(A) your
(B) you
(C) yours
(D) they
5 “Yes, ______ love the color very much. It is my favorite!”
(A) me
(B) he
(C) my
(D) I
6 “My brother saw the shirt at home. He wanted ______ too.”
(A) it
(B) he
(C) them
(D) its
7 “But my grandmother didn’t give it to ______. She gave it to me.”
(A) he
(B) her
(C) him
(D) his
8 “Are your parents here today? I want to show it to ______.”
(A) they
(B) us
(C) them
(D) their
9 “No, my parents are at work right now. ______ will see it later tonight.”
(A) Them
(B) They
(C) We
(D) Their
10 “Can I touch the fabric? ______ feels very soft.”
(A) He
(B) They
(C) Its
(D) It
11 “My friends from the other class also saw the shirt. I showed it to ______.”
(A) them
(B) him
(C) their
(D) they
12 “Did your grandmother give ______ any other presents?”
(A) yours
(B) they
(C) you
(D) your
13 “Yes, she gave a nice book to my sister and ______.”
(A) I
(B) me
(C) us
(D) my
14 “My sister and ______ always get nice gifts from our grandmother.”
(A) me
(B) he
(C) I
(D) my
15 “The teacher is looking at us. Let’s show the shirt to ______!”
(A) she
(B) her
(C) it
(D) hers
16 “Just between you and ______, this is the best shirt I have ever had.”
(A) me
(B) I
(C) my
(D) us
17 “If your brother really wants a shirt, your grandmother can buy one for ______ next week.”
(A) his
(B) her
(C) him
(D) he
18 “Look at that boy over there. Did you show it to ______?”
(A) him
(B) he
(C) them
(D) his
19 “No, he is a new student in our class. I don’t know ______.”
(A) it
(B) his
(C) he
(D) him
20 “Well, it is a great shirt. Both you and ______ agree that it looks perfect on you!”
(A) me
(B) we
(C) I
(D) my
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (C) it
- Why it is correct (The Key): “It” is the object pronoun used to replace a singular thing (“your new shirt”).
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: Using “him” (for a person) instead of a thing. (B) Strong Distractor: “Them” is used for plural nouns, but the shirt is singular. (D) Structural Error: “Its” is a possessive adjective and cannot stand alone as an object.
2 (A) She
- Why it is correct (The Key): We need a subject pronoun to perform the action “bought,” referring back to “My grandmother” (female).
- Error Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: “Her” is an object pronoun, which cannot be the subject. (C) Strong Distractor: “He” is the wrong gender. (D) Structural Error: “Hers” is a possessive pronoun, which is grammatically incorrect here.
3 (B) me
- Why it is correct (The Key): After the preposition “to” (in the structure give it to somebody), an object pronoun must be used. The speaker is talking about themselves, so “me” is correct.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: Using the subject pronoun “I” after a preposition. (C) Structural Error: “My” is a possessive adjective and requires a noun. (D) Strong Distractor: “Us” is grammatically correct but logically wrong, as the context is the speaker’s own birthday.
4 (B) you
- Why it is correct (The Key): “You” acts as the subject pronoun for the verb “like.”
- Error Analysis: (A) Structural Error: “Your” is a possessive adjective. (C) Structural Error: “Yours” is a possessive pronoun. (D) Strong Distractor: “They” is incorrect contextually because the speaker is asking the person directly in front of them (“Do you like it?”).
5 (D) I
- Why it is correct (The Key): A subject pronoun is needed before the verb “love” to refer to the speaker.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: “Me” is an object pronoun and cannot be the subject. (B) Strong Distractor: “He” is the wrong point of view (the speaker is talking about their own feelings). (C) Structural Error: “My” requires a noun.
6 (A) it
- Why it is correct (The Key): “It” is the object pronoun replacing “the shirt.”
- Error Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: “He” is a subject pronoun, not an object. (C) Strong Distractor: “Them” is plural. (D) Structural Error: “Its” is a possessive adjective.
7 (C) him
- Why it is correct (The Key): After the preposition “to,” we need an object pronoun replacing “my brother” (male).
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: “He” is a subject pronoun. (B) Strong Distractor: “Her” is the wrong gender. (D) Structural Error: “His” is a possessive adjective/pronoun.
8 (C) them
- Why it is correct (The Key): An object pronoun is needed after the preposition “to,” replacing “your parents” (plural).
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: “They” is a subject pronoun. (B) Strong Distractor: “Us” is the wrong context (meaning “we”). (D) Structural Error: “Their” is a possessive adjective.
9 (B) They
- Why it is correct (The Key): A plural subject pronoun is needed before the verb phrase “will see,” replacing “my parents.”
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: “Them” is an object pronoun. (C) Strong Distractor: “We” changes the meaning entirely. (D) Structural Error: “Their” requires a noun following it.
10 (D) It
- Why it is correct (The Key): “It” is the singular subject pronoun replacing “the fabric.”
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: Using “He” for an inanimate object. (B) Strong Distractor: “They” is used for plural objects. (C) Structural Error: “Its” is a possessive adjective.
11 (A) them
- Why it is correct (The Key): Plural object pronoun needed after “to,” replacing “My friends.”
- Error Analysis: (B) Strong Distractor: “Him” is singular and cannot replace “friends.” (C) Structural Error: “Their” is a possessive adjective. (D) Common Mistake: “They” is a subject pronoun.
12 (C) you
- Why it is correct (The Key): In the structure give somebody something, “you” acts as the indirect object.
- Error Analysis: (A) Structural Error: “Yours” is grammatically incorrect here. (B) Strong Distractor: “They” completely changes the meaning and makes no logical sense. (D) Structural Error: “Your” requires a noun.
13 (B) me
- Why it is correct (The Key): The phrase “my sister and me” comes after the preposition “to,” so the entire compound must be in the object form.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: Hypercorrection. Learners often use “and I” everywhere, but “I” is only for subjects. (C) Strong Distractor: “Us” is redundant because “my sister” is already mentioned. (D) Structural Error: “My” requires a noun.
14 (C) I
- Why it is correct (The Key): “My sister and I” forms the compound subject of the verb “get.”
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: Many speakers (even native ones) say “My sister and me,” but it is grammatically incorrect for a subject. (B) Strong Distractor: “He” changes the intended meaning. (D) Structural Error: “My” requires a noun.
15 (B) her
- Why it is correct (The Key): An object pronoun is required after the preposition “to.” Assuming the teacher is female, “her” is correct.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: “She” is a subject pronoun. (C) Strong Distractor: “It” is used for things, not a person (“the teacher”). (D) Structural Error: “Hers” is a possessive pronoun.
16 (A) me
- Why it is correct (The Key): “Between” is a preposition, so it must be followed by an object pronoun. “Between you and me” is a fixed phrase.
- Error Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: Hypercorrection (“Between you and I” is a very common grammatical error). (C) Structural Error: “My” requires a noun. (D) Strong Distractor: “Us” changes the meaning.
17 (C) him
- Why it is correct (The Key): We need an object pronoun after the preposition “for,” replacing “your brother” (male).
- Error Analysis: (A) Structural Error: “His” is a possessive adjective/pronoun. (B) Strong Distractor: “Her” is the wrong gender. (D) Common Mistake: “He” is a subject pronoun.
18 (A) him
- Why it is correct (The Key): Replaces “that boy” (male) after the preposition “to.”
- Error Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: “He” is a subject pronoun. (C) Strong Distractor: “Them” is plural. (D) Structural Error: “His” is a possessive adjective/pronoun.
19 (D) him
- Why it is correct (The Key): We need an object pronoun after the verb “know,” referring to “a new student” (male).
- Error Analysis: (A) Strong Distractor: “It” is for things, not people. (B) Structural Error: “His” is a possessive adjective. (C) Common Mistake: “He” is a subject pronoun.
20 (C) I
- Why it is correct (The Key): The phrase “you and I” acts as the compound subject of the verb “agree.”
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake: Using “me” as a subject (“you and me agree” is common in informal speech but grammatically incorrect). (B) Strong Distractor: “We” is redundant because “you” is already stated. (D) Structural Error: “My” requires a noun.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Subject Pronouns (I, You, He, She, It, We, They):
- They perform the action in a sentence.
- They always come before the verb.
- Example: She bought it. They will see it.
- Object Pronouns (Me, You, Him, Her, It, Us, Them):
- They receive the action.
- They come after the verb. (Example: I love it.)
- They come after prepositions like to, for, between, with. (Example: Give it to me, bought it for him).
- The “GIVE” Structure:
- The most common and safest structure for A1 learners is: Give + It (Thing) + To + Object Pronoun (Person).
- Example: She gave it to me. (NEVER: She gave it to I).
- The “And” Trap (Hypercorrection):
- When combining two people as the subject: Use I (My sister and I get gifts.)
- When combining two people as the object: Use me (She gave it to my sister and me.)
- Quick Trick: Remove the other person from the sentence to check. (Remove “my sister and” -> She gave it to me -> It immediately sounds correct!).