Now we know the flowers are for Angelica because I Object pronouns are frequently used with The
d with The Imperative.
Object Pronouns in English
 I need help.
This sentence is about the person (I). I is subject of this
sentence. I is a subject pronoun.
 I need help. Can you help me?
Me is the person receiving the help. Me is the object of this
action. Me is an object pronoun.
We cannot say:
I need help. Can you help I? ❌

This is because the object pronoun often has a different
form compared to the subject pronoun.
Look at these sentences and questions:
 I need help. Can you help me?
(I is the subject pronoun – ME is the object
pronoun)
 You need help. Can I help you? *
(The subject and object pronouns for YOU have
the same form)
 He needs help. Can you help him?
(HE is the subject pronoun – HIM is the object
pronoun)
 She needs help. Can you help her?
(SHE is the subject pronoun – HER is the object
pronoun)
 It needs help. Can you help it? *
(The subject and object pronouns for IT have the
same form)
 We need help. Can you help us?
(WE is the subject pronoun – US is the object
pronoun)
 They need help. Can you help them?
(THEY is the subject pronoun – THEM is the
object pronoun)
* Notice how YOU and IT do not change in form. The
subject and object pronouns have the same form for YOU
and IT.
Now look at this sentence:
 I sent her some flowers.
Do we know who HER refers to? No. It could be my
friend, my sister, my mother, my wife, we don’t know.
We use object pronouns when we have already
specified or mentioned the person we are talking about. We
know who the person is.
Why did we use HER in this sentence? Probably because
we have already talked about the person. For example:
 It’s Angelica’s birthday today. I sent her some
flowers.
mentioned her name before. The imperative is mostly used to give orders or instructions.
I sent HER … = I sent Angelica …  Help us!
The person receiving the flowers is Angelica.  Stop him!
BUT we don’t repeat the name immediately if it has just
 Listen to me!
been mentioned:
 It’s Angelica’s birthday today. I  Cut them into small pieces.
sent Angelica some flowers.  Give me the ball.
This sounds repetitive! We will learn more about the imperative in another lesson.
That is why we use object pronouns … to avoid repetition. Object pronouns exercise
Compare these questions: Let’s practice. Complete the blank spaces with the correct
 Can you tell John I will miss John? object pronoun.
You can see that saying John twice in this question sounds 1. Mary is early. Can you tell ___ to wait please?
repetitive. 2. We’re making pizza. Do you want to help ___?
How can we make this sound more natural? By using an 3. Your brother is noisy. Tell ___ to be quiet.
object pronoun. 4. Can you tell ___ the truth? I need to know.
 Can you tell John I will miss him? 5. I have a new book. I want to read ___ now.
We used the object pronoun him in the second question to 6. I have many books. I read ___ at night.
avoid sounding repetitive. 7. You’re busy so I will call ___ later.
Compare these two sentences. 8. Jack and Jill had an accident. I took ___ to
 Emma sent me some flowers. hospital.
 I sent her some chocolate.
Who is giving the flowers in the first sentence?
Emma is giving the flowers.
Who is receiving the flowers in the first sentence?
ME … I am receiving the flowers
Who is giving the chocolate in the second sentence?
I am giving the chocolate.
Who is receiving the chocolate in the second sentence?
HER … which means SHE or EMMA is receiving the
chocolate.
Object Pronouns – Word Order
Introduction
You may have noticed in all the previous examples that the
object pronoun goes after the verb.
 Can you help me?
 I sent her some chocolate.
 I will miss him.
 You can take them (Them may refer to people or
things)
Sometimes object pronouns go after a preposition.
 Where’s Phillip? I’m waiting for him.
 Do you want to come with us?
 Why are you looking at me?
 Listen to her.
We will learn more about the word order of direct and
indirect object pronouns in another lesson.
The Imperative + Object pronouns