LoginHe vs. Him
What Are Their Main Differences?
The key to knowing when to use 'he' and when to use 'him' is to know what is a subject pronoun and what is an object pronoun.
Male Person
'He' is the third-person singular subject pronoun. As the name suggests, subject pronouns represent a male person already mentioned or easily identified that does the action of the verb.
That's my father over there—he's a teacher.
As in this example, 'he' replaced the masculine subject of the sentence. Rather than saying 'That's my father over there—my father's a teacher', you can just say 'he' to avoid repetition.
Male Animal
'He' can also refer to a male animal. Sometimes, English speakers refer to their male pets as 'he' when they want to anthropomorphize them and show that there is an emotional bond between them.
Meet my dog, Skippy. He's such a good boy!
A Person with Unidentified Gender
Another usage of the subject pronoun 'he' is when we want to refer to a person, male or female, but we do not want to express what sex they are or their sex is unknown to us.
Nowadays, this usage of 'he' is considered unacceptable. And most writers prefer to use 'they' to be gender-neutral.
Every kid must feel he is loved by his parents.
Don't worry. He cannot run from the cops forever.
when the police don't know if the person is a male or female, they use 'he' as a generic term.
Human beings in General
'He' can also be used to refer to any human beings in general. However, in modern English, some consider this incorrect and prefer to use the singular 'they'.
He who hesitates is lost.
God
In some religious contexts, 'He' with the capital letter 'H' refers to God.
He is the Almighty God.
Using Pronouns After the Verb 'Be'
Formally, after the verb 'be,' a subject pronoun like 'he' should be used to refer to a male person or animal already mentioned. For example:
Hey, look! It's he.
'Who's at the door?' 'It's he again!'
Tip!
While 'he' is technically correct, in spoken and idiomatic English, people almost always use the object pronoun 'him' instead, as it sounds more natural:
Hey, look! It's him.
'Who's at the door?' 'It's him again!'
Object Pronoun
'Him' is the third-person masculine object pronoun. It can be used as:
Direct and Indirect Object
An object pronoun receives the action of the verb and represents the person or animal that is affected by the subject either directly or indirectly.
I love my son. In fact, I adore him.
Object of Preposition
'Him' is also used after a preposition. Look at this example:
I can't do that favor for him.
God
'Him' with a capital letter, can refer to 'God' in some religious contexts.
I believe in Him.
Multiple-word Subject or Object: Him or He?
Now, how do we choose between 'he' and 'him' when we have a multiple-word subject or object? It so happens that a subject or object is more than one person. They are usually combined with the word 'and'.
He and I are best friends.
Here, 'he and I' are in the position of subject. It can be replaced by the pronoun 'we.'
Don't meddle. It's between him and me.
Here, 'he and me' are in the position of object. It can be replaced by the pronoun 'us.'
Comments
(8)This is a common mistake, even among native speakers. After prepositions, we need an object pronoun, not a subject pronoun. Therefore, we should say 'him and Kate".
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