Can I start a sentence with a possessive pronoun?
0
Are these sentences acceptable:
- Her do you believe.
- Him do you believe.
I thought of this due to the shift in English from whom to who.
“Who do you believe?” is becoming widely used while the grammatically correct “Whom do you believe?” is becoming archaic.
word-choice whom who possessive-pronouns
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
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asked 13 hours ago
Paul
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0
Are these sentences acceptable:
- Her do you believe.
- Him do you believe.
I thought of this due to the shift in English from whom to who.
“Who do you believe?” is becoming widely used while the grammatically correct “Whom do you believe?” is becoming archaic.
word-choice whom who possessive-pronouns
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
2,60441225
asked 13 hours ago
Paul
12
New contributor
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
My answer is that you can start a sentence with a possessive pronoun, but that neither the her in your first example sentence nor the him in your second functions as a possessive pronoun.
– Sven Yargs
12 hours ago
Only with an independent genitive personal pronoun, e.g." Mine was fantastic, but his was useless.
– BillJ
8 hours ago
I don't understand the analogy between "her/him do you believe" and "who do you believe". In "Who do you believe", the pronoun "who" is being used as a direct object. Who was traditionally considered to be the "nominative" equivalent to "accusative" whom. It isn't any kind of a possessive. The word "who" comes at the start because it is a wh-word, but that special word order would not apply to non-wh pronouns. So the equivalent yes-no questions with "her" or "him" would be "Do you believe her?" and "Do you believe him?"
– sumelic
7 hours ago
add a comment |
0
0
0
1
Are these sentences acceptable:
- Her do you believe.
- Him do you believe.
I thought of this due to the shift in English from whom to who.
“Who do you believe?” is becoming widely used while the grammatically correct “Whom do you believe?” is becoming archaic.
word-choice whom who possessive-pronouns
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
2,60441225
asked 13 hours ago
Paul
12
New contributor
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Are these sentences acceptable:
- Her do you believe.
- Him do you believe.
I thought of this due to the shift in English from whom to who.
“Who do you believe?” is becoming widely used while the grammatically correct “Whom do you believe?” is becoming archaic.
word-choice whom who possessive-pronouns
word-choice whom who possessive-pronouns
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
2,60441225
asked 13 hours ago
Paul
12
New contributor
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
2,60441225
asked 13 hours ago
Paul
12
New contributor
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
2,60441225
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
2,60441225
edited 9 hours ago
Chappo
2,60441225
2,60441225
asked 13 hours ago
Paul
12
New contributor
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 13 hours ago
Paul
12
asked 13 hours ago
Paul
12
12
New contributor
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Paul is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
My answer is that you can start a sentence with a possessive pronoun, but that neither the her in your first example sentence nor the him in your second functions as a possessive pronoun.
– Sven Yargs
12 hours ago
Only with an independent genitive personal pronoun, e.g." Mine was fantastic, but his was useless.
– BillJ
8 hours ago
I don't understand the analogy between "her/him do you believe" and "who do you believe". In "Who do you believe", the pronoun "who" is being used as a direct object. Who was traditionally considered to be the "nominative" equivalent to "accusative" whom. It isn't any kind of a possessive. The word "who" comes at the start because it is a wh-word, but that special word order would not apply to non-wh pronouns. So the equivalent yes-no questions with "her" or "him" would be "Do you believe her?" and "Do you believe him?"
– sumelic
7 hours ago
add a comment |
2
My answer is that you can start a sentence with a possessive pronoun, but that neither the her in your first example sentence nor the him in your second functions as a possessive pronoun.
– Sven Yargs
12 hours ago
Only with an independent genitive personal pronoun, e.g." Mine was fantastic, but his was useless.
– BillJ
8 hours ago
I don't understand the analogy between "her/him do you believe" and "who do you believe". In "Who do you believe", the pronoun "who" is being used as a direct object. Who was traditionally considered to be the "nominative" equivalent to "accusative" whom. It isn't any kind of a possessive. The word "who" comes at the start because it is a wh-word, but that special word order would not apply to non-wh pronouns. So the equivalent yes-no questions with "her" or "him" would be "Do you believe her?" and "Do you believe him?"
– sumelic
7 hours ago
2
2
My answer is that you can start a sentence with a possessive pronoun, but that neither the her in your first example sentence nor the him in your second functions as a possessive pronoun.
– Sven Yargs
12 hours ago
My answer is that you can start a sentence with a possessive pronoun, but that neither the her in your first example sentence nor the him in your second functions as a possessive pronoun.
– Sven Yargs
12 hours ago
Only with an independent genitive personal pronoun, e.g." Mine was fantastic, but his was useless.
– BillJ
8 hours ago
Only with an independent genitive personal pronoun, e.g." Mine was fantastic, but his was useless.
– BillJ
8 hours ago
I don't understand the analogy between "her/him do you believe" and "who do you believe". In "Who do you believe", the pronoun "who" is being used as a direct object. Who was traditionally considered to be the "nominative" equivalent to "accusative" whom. It isn't any kind of a possessive. The word "who" comes at the start because it is a wh-word, but that special word order would not apply to non-wh pronouns. So the equivalent yes-no questions with "her" or "him" would be "Do you believe her?" and "Do you believe him?"
– sumelic
7 hours ago
I don't understand the analogy between "her/him do you believe" and "who do you believe". In "Who do you believe", the pronoun "who" is being used as a direct object. Who was traditionally considered to be the "nominative" equivalent to "accusative" whom. It isn't any kind of a possessive. The word "who" comes at the start because it is a wh-word, but that special word order would not apply to non-wh pronouns. So the equivalent yes-no questions with "her" or "him" would be "Do you believe her?" and "Do you believe him?"
– sumelic
7 hours ago
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2
My answer is that you can start a sentence with a possessive pronoun, but that neither the her in your first example sentence nor the him in your second functions as a possessive pronoun.
– Sven Yargs
12 hours ago
Only with an independent genitive personal pronoun, e.g." Mine was fantastic, but his was useless.
– BillJ
8 hours ago
I don't understand the analogy between "her/him do you believe" and "who do you believe". In "Who do you believe", the pronoun "who" is being used as a direct object. Who was traditionally considered to be the "nominative" equivalent to "accusative" whom. It isn't any kind of a possessive. The word "who" comes at the start because it is a wh-word, but that special word order would not apply to non-wh pronouns. So the equivalent yes-no questions with "her" or "him" would be "Do you believe her?" and "Do you believe him?"
– sumelic
7 hours ago