subject of gerund

Question

Could you tell me which is more natural between 1. and 2. ?1.His doing it should result in success.2.Him doing it should result in success.

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

I have no way of knowing which is the more natural choice for native speakers but I would avoid No. 2. There is no grammatical justification for the object form him. There would be if there were, for example, a preposition before it: I we cannot count on him doing it.

CB

RandomGuy · Answer

GuttyonCould you tell me which is more natural between 1. and 2.?
1.His doing it…
2.Him doing it…

They are equally natural. (The accusative form him is a bit informal.)

Cool BreezeThere is no grammatical justification for the object form him.

If you’re going to use that reasoning then you might also say there’s no justification for it in It’s him, either. Nevertheless, it is standard English.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Aspara GusIf you’re going to use that reasoning then you might also say there’s no justification for it in It’s him, either. Nevertheless, it is standard English.

I know that. Even me is standard English in replies like this:

Who was it?
Me.

Ungrammaticality is one of the things that make English so fascinating!

CB

Ozzourti · Answer

While you can justify the use of the subject case in It is I, I don't think you can justify its use when the pronoun stands alone.

Cool Breeze · Answer

ozzourtiWhile you can justify the use of the subject case in It is I, I don't think you can justify its use when the pronoun stands alone.

It seems to be that way in English!

In German and Swedish, which are also Germanic languages and very closely related to English, the object form would simply be unthinkable in my example. In theory, in English the object form of the personal pronoun is used in these three grammatical contexts:

1. direct object: He saw me.
2. indirect object: He gave me a book.
3. object of preposition: He came with me.

In actual usage, and especially in informal style, English object forms are used in some other contexts as well. This doesn't apply to German, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, French, Latin etc. This and some other similar intriguing phenomena were instrumental in making me choose English Philology rather than boring German in my younger days when I began my studies at Helsinki University.

The English have always been fond of the exceptional and inconsistent. Otherwise there would never have been 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pence to the shilling.

CB

subject of gerund

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