What Is a Subject Pronoun?

A subject pronoun is a word that is used in the place of a noun. It plays the role of a
subject in the sentence. Subject pronouns are usually placed in the first part of a
sentence, just before the verb, to indicate the doer of the action.

Definition of a Subject Pronoun

According to the Collins Dictionary, a subject pronoun is “a pronoun which takes the
place of a subject in a sentence, such as (in English) ‘I’, ‘you’, or ‘we’.”

Examples of Subject Pronouns

Here are some examples of subject pronouns.

 I go to school every day. (The pronoun ‘I’ is doing the action of going to school every day
and is the subject in the sentence)
 We are travelling to Paris next week. (The pronoun ‘we’ refers to the subject who is
currently doing the action of travelling to Paris)
 He will be meeting Nina tomorrow. (The pronoun ‘he’ is the subject who will be
performing the action of meeting Nina the next day)
 She is writing a letter to her cousin. (The pronoun ‘she’ is the subject in the sentence that
is currently performing the action of writing a letter to her cousin)
 Did you get the book you were looking for? (The pronoun ‘you’ is the subject pronoun in
the sentence)
 They will be playing the final match in Australia. (The pronoun ‘they’ is the subject who
will be playing the final match in Australia)

Identifying Object Pronouns

In order to identify the object pronoun in a sentence, you should find out the noun
that receives the action. The receiver of the action is called the object. Object
pronouns can act as indirect and direct objects. When used as a direct object, it
answers the question ‘who’; and it answers the question ‘whom’ when used as
an indirect object in a sentence. Me, him, her, us, them, you and it are object
pronouns.

Examples of Object Pronouns Used in Sentences

Given below are some examples of object pronouns used in sentences.

 Barry bought a canvas sheet.

Barry bought it.

The object here is ‘a canvas sheet’, and it can be substituted by the object pronoun
‘it’.

 Jessica and Lorraine met Kelly in the evening.

Jessica and Lorraine met her in the evening.

The object here is ‘Kelly’. It can be substituted by the object pronoun ‘her’.

 Did you like the movie?

Did you like it?

‘The movie’ is the object in the sentence and can be substituted by the object
pronoun ‘it’.

 When can we meet Nick and Jess?

When can we meet them?

‘Nick and Jess’ are the objects in the sentence and can be substituted by the object
pronoun ‘them’.

Rules and Usage of Personal Pronouns

Using Gender Neutral Personal Pronouns

There are some personal pronouns which are not gender sensitive.

The Singular and Plural ‘You’

The pronoun ‘you’ is the second person pronoun that can be used in both the
singular and plural form.

Example 1: You are from Columbia, right?

In the above sentence, ‘you’ can be a male or a female.

Example 2: Did you do your assignments?

In the above example, ‘you’ can refer to a singular or plural noun and also a group of
male and female students.
‘They’ and ‘Them’
The third person pronouns ’they’ and ‘them’ can be used when the gender of a third
person singular pronoun is neutral or cannot be determined.

Example 1: Everyone has to make sure if he/she has his/her ID cards before he/she
goes into the exam hall.

When you have to write for the general public, people use he/she or him/her. It can
also be written in the following manner.

Everyone has to make sure if they have their ID cards before they go into the exam
hall.

Using Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns

Using subject pronouns and object pronouns accurately is one of the things that you
should practise in order to be able to communicate with clarity.

‘Me’ vs ‘I’
Among the subject and object pronouns, the pronouns ‘me’ and ‘I’ are the ones that
are not used correctly, most of the time. This could be made easy if you understand
the idea that the pronoun ‘I’ is always used as the subject pronoun, and the pronoun
‘me’ is always used as the object pronoun.

Example 1:

Firoz, Jenny and me went to watch a movie last night. (Incorrect)

The above sentence is incorrect as ‘me’ is an object pronoun and cannot be used as
a subject pronoun.

The correct usage would be as follows,

Firoz, Jenny and I went to watch a movie last night. (Correct)

Example 2:

All that I would need for the next two years were given to me on the first day.

The pronoun ‘me’ is used here because it is the object of the sentence that is
receiving the action.
The Difference Between Past Tense and Past
Participle
Basically, the past tense is a true verb tense while the past participle is a
verb-derived form that has three distinct uses.
Since past participle verbs are not tenses, they can’t be used on their
own. You need an auxiliary verb such as “have” or “had.” Because of this,
the past participle is commonly used as a compound verb.
The past tense, on the other hand, is a conjugated verb that expresses that
an action has happened in the past, or has previously existed (but no
longer).
What Is the Past Tense?
The past tense is one of three tenses in English:

 Past tense

 Present tense

 Future tense
This concept of tenses is reflected in the way we conjugate verbs.
These tenses can further be divided into four distinct forms (simple,
continuous, perfect and perfect continuous). For the past tense, they are:

 Simple past (I went to Paris.)

 Past continuous (I was studying when the phone rang.)

 Past perfect (I had eaten lunch by 11:00.)

 Past perfect continuous (I had been eating since I woke up last

Tuesday.)
Simple Past Tense
You use this tense when the action has already happened or has been
completed.

 I ate a chicken sandwich.

 I went on a cruise last summer.

Past Continuous Tense
We use this to refer to something in the past that has already
happened, but as though it were still happening (usually in the context of
another event).

 I was eating a chicken sandwich when he called me.

 Sara was sunbathing when the rainstorm started.
The “-ing” verb gives us the impression of an action that is happening,
while the “was” means that it took place in the past.
Past Perfect Tense
We usually use this to talk about events that have already been
completed before a specified time or another event.

 I had eaten a chicken sandwich that my mother had made for me.

 The package had been delivered before I got home.

The use of the verb “had” along with the specific verb form “eaten” (which is
the participle form) tells us that it’s in the past perfect.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Finally, we use this verb form to refer to an action that was still
happening until another event occurred.

 I had been eating chicken sandwiches from the local diner until I
learned to cook on my own.

 She had been studying for hours before she finally understood the
concept.
What Is the Past Participle?
The past participle—one of two participles in English—is a verb-based
word form that has three uses:

 to form the perfect tenses

 as an adjective

 to form the passive voice

Past Participle and Past Perfect Verb Tense
To form a past perfect verb phrase, you need an auxiliary verb (had) and a
past participle word, like in these examples:

 She had already eaten dinner when I arrived at her house.

 The train had departed by the time we reached the station.

 They had finished the project before the deadline.

 By the time he woke up, his friends had already left.

 The movie had already started when we got to the theater.

As you can see in a couple of these examples, the “had” and the past
participle can sometimes have an adverb between them, such as “already.”
Past Participle and Passive Voice
Past participles can also be used to form the passive voice. This form is
often used in academic writing, or to de-emphasize the agent/subject of a
sentence, or the person or thing performing the main action.
To form the passive voice, the past participle is used in combination with
either “was” or “were.”

 The car was driven by Max.

 The houses were built in the 19th century.

 The painting was admired by many visitors at the art exhibition.

 The project was completed ahead of schedule.

You can refresh your memory on the differences between active and
passive voice here.
Past Participle as an Adjective
Past participles can also be used as adjectives. To do this, they are in the
exact same form as they are in the past perfect tense.

 The broken vase lay shattered on the floor.

 The excited children ran to the playground.

 The stolen jewels were recovered by the police.

 She was wearing a beautiful embroidered dress.

 The exhausted hiker collapsed onto the ground.

Forming the Past Participle
Forming the past participle is pretty easy, except for the fact that there are
quite a few irregular ones.
Regular Past Participles
For most verbs, the simple past and the past participle forms of the verb
are the same, so you probably already know how to form them.
Just add the suffix “-ed” (or “-d” if the word already ends in “e”).
Infinitive Past Tense Past Participle

Walk Walked Walked

Nap Napped Napped

Infinitive Past Tense Past Participle

Learn Learned Learned

Talk Talked Talked

Dream Dreamed Dreamed

Play Played Played

Listen Listened Listened

Travel Traveled Traveled

Irregular Past Participles

However, some other past participles are formed differently, and some
don’t look like their past tense forms.
Irregular participles don’t follow a specific pattern and can have many
different endings such as: “-en,” “-n,” “-ne” and “-t.”
Infinitive Past Tense Past Participle

Eat Ate Eaten

Drink Drank Drunk

Sing Sang Sung

Break Broke Broken

Write Wrote Written

Freeze Froze Frozen

Go Went Gone

Choose Chose Chosen

The best way to learn the irregular past participles is by memorizing them.
Here are a few more irregular verbs in their past and past participle forms.
Infinitive Past Tense Past Participle

Awake Awoke Awoken

Drive Drove Driven

Fly Flew Flown

Infinitive Past Tense Past Participle

See Saw Seen

Take Took Taken

Forget Forgot Forgotten

Grow Grew Grown

Fall Fell Fallen

Sink Sank Sunk

What is Past?
Past is sometimes referred to as simple past as in the sentences given below:

I gave a book to Francis.

He looked at her friend.

In both the sentences given above, simple past tense is used. Past tense indicates the
completed nature of an action. In the first sentence, the action of giving is completed
when somebody said ‘I gave a book to Francis’. The action took place some time ago. In
the second sentence, you can see that the action of looking was over when somebody
said ‘He looked at her friend’. The action of looking took place some time ago.

What is Past Participle?

On the other hand, past participle is a grammatical form of a verb when a perfect tense
is used. This perfect tense could be present perfect, past perfect or future perfect.
Observe the sentences given below:

I sing a song daily.

He sang a song last night.

He had sung a song that day.

In the first sentence, present tense is used and the verb in the present tense form is
used. In the second sentence, past tense is used and the verb in the past tense form
‘sang’ is used. In the third sentence, past perfect tense is used and the verb in the past
perfect tense ‘sung’ is used. In other words, the form ‘sung’ is the past participle form of
the verb ‘sing’. This is the difference between the past tense and the past participle. Let
us see another example of the verb ‘drink’ in the following sentences:
He drinks milk every day.

She drank the lemonade.

She had drunk the milk mixed with honey.

In the sentences mentioned above, the second sentence has the application of past
tense in the verb ‘drank’, whereas the third sentence has the application of past
participle form of ‘drink’, namely, ‘drunk’. From these examples, it becomes very clear
that is past participle form of the verb is used with perfect tenses.

A very important use of the past participle is how it is used in passive sentences. Without
the past participle we cannot build even one passive sentence. The formation of passive
voice verb is as follows.

Be (in the given tense of the active voice sentence) + past participle of the given
verb

 I brought some books. (past tense)

Some books were brought by me.

 She drinks milk. (present tense)

Milk is drunk by her.

 He will buy some apples. (future tense)

Some apples will be bought by him.

In all these examples, you can see how every tense needs past participle to form
passive verb. The past participle is also used in the third conditional. Look at the
following example.

If I had seen her I would have called her.

What is the difference between Past and Past

Participle?
• Past is sometimes referred to as simple past.

• On the other hand, past participle is a grammatical form of a verb when a perfect tense
is used.

• Past participle is used in passive voice sentences.• Past participle is also used in the
third conditional.