Pronouns
English · Grammar · 3 min
Concept: Pronouns — case first, agreement second
English marks a pronoun by the job it does in the sentence, and that is exactly what the paper tests.
- Subject form vs object form.
I, he, she, we, they, whodo the action;me, him, her, us, them, whomreceive it or follow a preposition. After between, for, with, to, like always use the object form: "between you and me". - Reflexive pronouns. Use
myself, himselfonly when the doer and the receiver are the same person: "He hurt himself." A few verbs need it: absent oneself, avail oneself of, pride oneself on, resign oneself to. - Relative pronouns.
whofor people,whichfor things,thatfor both in a defining clause,whosefor possession,whomafter a preposition: "the officer to whom I spoke". - Agreement.
each, every, either, neither, everyone, somebody, nobodyare singular: "Everyone has his or her own copy."Onecontinues asone's, nothis.
The single most common mistake among Marathi and Hindi speakers is using "myself" to introduce oneself — "Myself Rahul Patil" — a direct rendering of मी स्वतः / मैं खुद. English has no such use: say "I am Rahul Patil". The close second is "between you and I", where a polite instinct picks the subject form after a preposition. How to spot both: delete the other person and read again. "Between I" is obviously wrong, so it must be "between you and me".
Formula card
After a preposition → object form (between you and me) · reflexive only when doer = receiver; never "Myself Rahul" · who/whom = people, which = things, whose = possession · each/every/everyone → singular verb and pronoun
Worked example
Choose the correct form: "This matter must remain between you and ____." Options: I / me / myself / mine. → me. "Between" is a preposition, so the pronoun after it takes the object form. Sanity check: remove "you and" and read the sentence — "between me" survives, "between I" does not. Note that "myself" would need the subject to be I, and here the subject is "this matter".