Definition:
The case of a pronoun when it is the subject of a clause, a subject complement, or an appositive to a subject or a subject complement. The subjective (or nominative) forms of English pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who and whoever. See also:
Examples and Observations:
- "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it."
(Edward R. Murrow) - "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
(movie title, 1969) - "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause."
(Theodore Roosevelt, speech at the Sorbonne, April 23, 1910) - "USAGE NOTE: In conversation, you may sometimes use objective case forms of pronouns when formal written grammar requires subjective case forms. For example, in responding to a question such as 'Are you Carmela Shiu?' you might answer, 'Yes, that's me,' rather than 'Yes, that's I.' Me sounds more natural because that form of the pronoun is used more often in speech. However, I is grammatically correct in this instance."
(Robert DiYanni and Pat C. Hoy II, The Scribner Handbook for Writers, 3rd ed., Allyn and Bacon, 2001) - "My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."
(Mark Twain) - "I had a friend who was a clown. When he died, all his friends went to the funeral in one car."
(Steven Wright)
Pronunciation: sub-JEK-tiv
Also Known As: nominative case
