Objective Case
Focus on the grammatical function rather than the label alone. English nouns usually do not show a distinct objective form, but several pronouns contrast subject and object forms: “she called me,” “for him,” and “between us.” Avoid extending the old case label as though every noun changes form.
“Objective case” is the traditional term for forms used in object functions, most visibly English personal-pronoun forms such as me, him, her, us, and them. Use the object form when the pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition; modern grammars often describe these simply as object forms.
Key details
Important caveats
Terminology Boundary
Do not treat “objective case” as evidence that all English nouns have a visibly different object ending; the clearest contrast is in pronouns.
Further guidance
Preposition Object
Use an object form after a preposition: “between you and me,” “for them,” and “with us.”
Verb Object
Use an object form when the pronoun receives or completes the verb’s action: “The editor called her,” not “The editor called she.”
Worked Example
In “They sent us the draft,” “they” is the subject form and “us” is the object form. In “The draft came from them,” “them” is the object of the preposition “from.”
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Pronouns: personal (I, me, you, him, it, they, etc.) (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Explains personal pronouns by person, number, subject/object form and reference, including contemporary singular-they usage.
- Objective case (opens in a new tab)Merriam-Webster · Defines the traditional objective-case terminology for forms used as grammatical objects.