5.3 Word ending in English
Although English uses word order to indicate subjects and objects, traces of something like ‘nominative’ and ‘accusative’ cases are still visible in English personal pronouns. That is to say, English personal pronouns operate like Latin nouns because their role is indicated by their form. In the following example, to change the subject and object, you must change not only the word order but also the form of the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘he’.
English personal pronouns as subjects and objects
I love Livia → --> Liva loves me.
He loves Livia → --> Liva loves him.
Activity 25
Do other English pronouns besides ‘I’ and ‘he’ change form when used as objects?
Answer
Yes.
| Subject | Object |
|---|---|
| I | me |
| he | him |
| she | her |
| we | us |
| they | them |
‘You’ takes the same form whether it is subject or object, but the archaic form ‘thou’ (subject) becomes ‘thee’ when used as an object. Note also the relative pronoun ‘who’ (subject) and ‘whom’ (object). These examples are remnants of what was once a more widespread use of cases by English nouns.
You have already seen that the use of word endings in Latin allows the order of words to be less rigid. This can also occur in English, especially where personal pronouns are involved.
Activity 26
In what order are the subject, verb and object in the following sentences?
a.
Subject – Verb – Object
b.
Subject – Object – Verb
c.
Object – Subject – Verb
The correct answer is b.
Answer
I (subject) thee (object) wed (verb).
a.
Subject – Verb – Object
b.
Subject – Object – Verb
c.
Object – Subject – Verb
The correct answer is c.
Answer
keys (object) he (subject) bore (verb)
The golden rule when shifting English words into unexpected positions is to keep the meaning of the sentence clear. The use of subject forms (‘I’ and ‘he’) and object forms (‘thee’) help to clarify the meaning in the above examples, in spite of the unusual word order.