English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
PERSONAL PRONOUNS: SUBJECT COMPLEMENT POSITION
It wasn’t ~her~ (nonstandard).
It wasn’t *she* (standard)
Who knocked?
It seems ~him~ (nonstandard).
It seems *he* (standard).
NOTE: When a personal pronoun is in a subject complement position (i.e., when it is completing the meaning of the subject), the subjective form of the pronoun is used. The sentences above would be realised in full as:
It wasn’t her who lied (her did not lie).✖️
It wasn’t she who lied (she did not lie). ✔️
It seems him knocked. ✖️
It seems he knocked. ✔️
GAB
