Pronouns

Remember that in formal writing, items being compared must be parallel. Mentally replace the first noun being compared with a pronoun. If you would use he (the subjective) there, then use it in the second position as well.

• My brother is taller than I. (He is taller; he is subjective, so I is correct.)
  • Please note that this construction treats than as a conjunction, rather than a preposition. It’s the traditional way to write this comparison in formal writing. To understand this intuitively, you can imagine the implied word am: “My brother is taller than I am.”
  • For informal, plain language writing, it might be more natural to say, “My brother is taller than me.” This treats than as a preposition. As always, write to your audience. (Source: Chicago Manual of Style)
• Please send the report to Olivia and (Send it to her; her is objective, so me is correct.)

When in doubt, imagine the other names or pronouns aren’t there. Whichever word sounds correct by itself is also correct when other nouns or pronouns are included. It doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a try.

• Our cousins are coming to visit my sister and me.
• My cat and I were on camera before the meeting started.

Who/whom is another tricky one. To figure out which one to use, test sentences with other pronouns, like he/she/they or she/her/them. If he is correct in the test sentence, you need the subjective case and should use who. If him is correct, you need the objective case and should use whom.

• ____ wrote the report?
  • He wrote the report.
  • Who wrote the report?
• You gave the report to ____?
  • You gave the report to him.
  • You gave the report to whom?
• ____ should I vote for?
  • You should vote for them.
  • Whom should I vote for? (or For whom should I vote?*)
• Do you know anyone ____ is like me?
  • He is like you.
  • Do you know anyone who is like me?

* This construction is formally correct, but it’s probably not the best plain-language option.