Subject vs. Object

1. Subject vs. Object How to recognize subjects and objects in English

2. Who you gonna call??? “who” or “whom” in English? 1. _____ do you love? Whom do you love? 2. _____ (are) you going to call? Whom are you going to call? 3. For _____ the bell tolls. For whom the bell tolls. 4. _____ let the dogs out? Who let the dogs out? 5. _____ shall I send? Whom shall I send?

3. 6. _____ can it be now? Who can it be now? 7. _____ can you trust? Whom can you trust? 8. Who made ______? Who made whom? 9. Be careful _____ you love! Be careful whom you love! 10. _____ am I? Who am I?

4. If you follow the German sentence structure instead of the English sentence structure, you can see more clearly that “who” and “whom” are not the same thing. Who calls the man? Subjectdirect object Whom calls the man? direct objectsubject (Whom does the man call?)

5. In English, there is actually a change in word order depending on whether you are dealing with a subject “who” or an object “whom”. Who calls the man? Whom does the man call? Who wants tocall the man? Whom does the man want to call? Who will call the man? Whom will the man call? Who has called the man? Whom has the man called? Who should call the man? Whom should the man call?

6. If your verb forms are together, you are usually dealing with a subject “who”. If your verb forms are separated, you are usually dealing with an object “whom”. Caution: This is NOT true when your main verb is “to be” or “to become” (predicate nominative). Who should he become? Who does she want to be? BUT: Whom does she want to see?

7. Try again! 1. _____ can stop the rain? Who can stop the rain? 2. _____ did he call? Whom did he call? 3. _____ has he become? Who has he become? 4. _____ will she see tomorrow? Whom will she see tomorrow? 5. _____ does call me at this hour? Who does call me at this hour?

8. Personal Pronouns Subject pronouns Direct Object pronouns ich = Imich = me du = you dich = you er = heihn = him sie = she sie = her es = it es = it wir = weuns = us ihr = y’all euch = y’all sie = they sie = them Sie = You Sie = You

9. Which is correct in English? 1. a. Bob and I went swimming. b. Bob and me went swimming. (a.; pronoun is part of the subject) 2. a. You should let Bob and I know. b. You should let Bob and me know. (b.; pronoun is part of a direct object) 3. a. This will stay between you and I. b. This will stay between you and me. (b.; pronoun is part of a prepositional object) 4. a. I am he. b. I am him. (a.; the second pronoun is a predicate nominative because of the verb “to be”)