Object Pronouns

Remember, a pronoun is used in place of a noun. Subject pronouns come in front of verbs, and object pronouns follow them:


me                        us
you                       you
him, her, it            them


EXAMPLES


–We see our friends.
–>We see them. (them takes the place of our friends)


–Call the waiter.
–>Call him. (i.e., the waiter)


–They like coffee.
–>They like it. (i.e., coffee)


Placement of Object Pronouns



When there is a sentence with more than one object pronoun, the rule is as follows:


1. PLACE THE DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN DIRECTLY AFTER THE VERB


2. ANY INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN WILL COME LAST.


EXAMPLES


–The lawyer gives you the envelope.
–>He gives it to you.


–They will send me some letters.
–>They'll send them to me.


–He's explaining the will to us.
–>He's explaining it to us.


Note that when you use a direct object pronoun, it comes earlier in the sentence than its noun equivalent:


–I give you a visa.
–>I give it to you.


The example below points to a problem with object word order in English. When a noun is the direct object, it normally comes last in the sentence (I wrote them a check.). When a pronoun is the direct object, the indirect object moves to the end of the sentence, and is preceded by to:


–She's leaving you her estate.
–>She's leaving it to you.