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👤 Personal Pronouns: Subject, Object & Possessive

I/me/my, he/him/his — mastering the three pronoun forms

A1 10 min read 5 sections

Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns replace the person or thing doing the action. English has 7 subject pronouns. Unlike German, there's no formal/informal distinction — "you" is used for everyone, whether it's your best friend or the president.

English	German Equivalent	Russian Equivalent	Example
I	ich	я	I live in Berlin.
you (singular)	du / Sie	ты / Вы	You speak English well.
he	er	он	He is a teacher.
she	sie	она	She works at a hospital.
it	es	оно	It is raining.
we	wir	мы	We are students.
you (plural)	ihr / Sie	вы	You are all welcome.
they	sie	они	They are coming tomorrow.

Tip: "I" is always capitalized in English, even in the middle of a sentence. No other pronoun gets this treatment. Also, "you" is the same for one person or many — context makes the meaning clear.

Object Pronouns

Object pronouns replace the person or thing receiving the action. They come after verbs and prepositions. English doesn't distinguish between accusative and dative like German does — one object pronoun covers both.

Subject	Object	After verb	After preposition
I	me	She called me.	for me
you	you	I see you.	with you
he	him	We asked him.	to him
she	her	Tell her.	about her
it	it	I like it.	on it
we	us	Join us.	with us
they	them	Help them.	for them

Tip: German speakers: you're used to choosing between accusative (ihn) and dative (ihm) — English simplifies this to just "him" for both. "Ich sehe ihn" and "Ich gebe ihm" both use "him" in English.

Possessive Adjectives & Possessive Pronouns

English has two possessive forms: possessive adjectives (before a noun: "my book") and possessive pronouns (replace the noun: "The book is mine"). They look similar but serve different roles.

Subject	Possessive Adjective	Possessive Pronoun	Example
I	my	mine	my car / The car is mine.
you	your	yours	your phone / It's yours.
he	his	his	his jacket / It's his.
she	her	hers	her bag / It's hers.
it	its	(no pronoun form)	its color / —
we	our	ours	our house / It's ours.
they	their	theirs	their idea / It's theirs.

Tip: CRITICAL: "its" (possessive) vs "it's" (it is/it has). This is one of the most common errors in English, even for native speakers. "The dog wagged its tail" (possessive, no apostrophe). "It's raining" (= it is raining).

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) are used when the subject and object are the same person. English uses them much less often than German.

Subject	Reflexive	Example
I	myself	I taught myself to cook.
you	yourself	Be careful — don't hurt yourself.
he	himself	He introduced himself.
she	herself	She looked at herself in the mirror.
it	itself	The cat cleaned itself.
we	ourselves	We enjoyed ourselves.
they	themselves	They prepared themselves.

Tip: German speakers: many German reflexive verbs are NOT reflexive in English. "Ich wasche mich" = "I wash" (not "I wash myself" — unless you're emphasizing it). "Ich fühle mich gut" = "I feel good" (not "I feel myself good"). Only use a reflexive pronoun when the meaning truly requires it.

Common Pronoun Mistakes

These are the pronoun errors that trip up learners most often:

Mistake	Correct	Why
"Me and him went to the store."	"He and I went to the store."	Subject position needs subject pronouns
"Between you and I"	"Between you and me"	After prepositions, use object pronouns
"Everyone should bring their book"	"Everyone should bring their book"	Actually correct in modern English!
"Give it to John and I"	"Give it to John and me"	After "to" (preposition), use "me"
"Theirselves"	"Themselves"	There is no word "theirselves"

Tip: Quick test for "and I" vs "and me": remove the other person. "John and me went" → "Me went" (wrong!) → "I went" → so it's "John and I went." "Give it to John and I" → "Give it to I" (wrong!) → "Give it to me" → so it's "Give it to John and me."

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👤 Personal Pronouns: Subject, Object & Possessive

Subject Pronouns

Object Pronouns

Possessive Adjectives & Possessive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Common Pronoun Mistakes

Practice with Interactive Quizzes

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