His vs. Him

him his object pronouns possessive determiners possessive pronouns

We have different kinds of pronouns in English grammar, for example, subject, object, possessive, impersonal, etc. Here, we will discuss two masculine pronouns.

What is Their Main Difference?

The difference between 'him' and 'his' is in their grammatical function in a sentence. 'Him' is used to refer to a male person who is the object of a sentence, while 'his' is used to show possession by a male person.

Similarity

'His' and 'him' are both third-person pronouns. It means they are used to refer to a male person already mentioned or easily recognizable.

'Him'

'Him' is an object pronoun that is used as the object of a verb or preposition in a sentence. It is used to refer to a male person who is the recipient of an action or the object of a preposition. Look at the following examples:

I love how the smallest things make him laugh out loud.

Here, 'him' is the direct object of the sentence.

You can not share that secret with him.

Here, 'him' is the object of preposition.

It's him on the phone again. You have to talk to him eventually.

Here, the first 'him' is a complement that follows the verb 'be' and the second is the object of preposition.

'His'

'His' is a possessive pronoun or possessive determiner that is used to show ownership or possession of something by a male person. It is used to indicate that something belongs to a male person or is associated with him in some way.
If it is followed by another noun, it is a determiner. On the other hand, if it appears on its own, it is a pronoun. Pay attention to the examples:

He took his dog out for a walk.

'His' is followed by the noun 'dog' and shows that the dog belongs to a male person.

My car was red. His was light blue.

Here, 'his' is a pronoun replacing the possessive phrase 'his car'.

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