The Difference between 'She' and 'Her'

'She' and 'her' are both pronouns that are used to refer to nouns describing female persons and animals. To know their similarities and differences, click here!

She vs. Her

Main Similarity

'She' and 'her' are both feminine pronouns that replace the nouns referring to female people or animals.

Main Difference

The difference between these two gender-specific pronouns is that they belong to different grammatical cases, i.e. they can be used in different circumstances.

She: Subject Pronoun

'She' as a third-person singular subject pronoun has a nominative case which means it can appear in a position of the subject of the sentence. It can replace the nouns that are referring to:

A women or a girl

Before Gabrielle went shopping , she listed the things she wanted to buy .

She was a healthy baby girl .

a female animal (especially pets)

She was a little kitten we adopted as a domestic animal .

an inanimate object (especially when the object have special meaning and sentimental value to the owner)

I bought a new Bentley . Isn't she beautiful ?

a country or nation

Our country needs peace and I hope she finds it soon .

a person who is not identified as either male or female

The student must seek help from the counselor before she gives up on school .

It is better to use 'he or she' or 'they' as an alternative to 'she'.

used in hyphenated compounds to show the gender of animals

That's a she-bear and here's a she-cat .

Her: Object Pronoun

'Her' is the accusative form of the pronoun 'she', which means it can be:

direct or indirect object

I'm going to invite her to my birthday party , whether you like it or not ! (direct object)

I'm going to buy her a present . (indirect object)

object of a preposition

We can't tell you . It's between her and me .

predicative after the verb 'be'

Someone's at the door . It could be her .

With this use, there can be some confusion. Because you may see 'her' and 'she' interchangeably.

This is she .

The complete sentence was 'this is she who is speaking'. Although, some people may consider this to be grammatically incorrect, but it is used often in spoken English.

Her: Possessive Determiner

'Her' also can have a possessive case. In this way, it is the possessive form of the pronoun 'she' (it was used to be called a possessive adjective, but now in modern English, we call it a possessive determiner). It shows that something or someone belongs to a female person or animal.

She was so rude . I didn't like her behavior .

My cat , Fluffy , loves to sleep in her basket .

The Difference between 'It' and 'Them'

'It' and 'They' are both pronouns, but what is the difference between 'it' and 'they'? Here we will discuss the differences and similarities of the two.

How to Choose Between 'He' and 'They'

What should we choose when we do not want to be explicit about gender specificity? Well, in this lesson, you will learn about the new pronoun in English!

How to Choose Between 'She' and 'They'

In writing academically or speaking formally, it is important that you don’t distinguish between genders. Here we will learn how!

Are They Interchangeable?

'It', 'she', and 'he' are personal pronouns that show person and number. 'He' and 'she' also show gender. Read this article to know these three pronouns.

What Is the Difference between 'We' and 'Us'?

'We' is a subject pronoun used as the subject of sentences. 'Us' is an object pronoun used as an object in a sentence. But can they be interchangeable?

How To Choose Between 'We' and 'They'

'We are the working class.' 'They are the upper class'. We use 'we' to refer to a group we feel belonged to and use 'they' when we feel a social distance.

She vs. Her in English Grammar