What is the subject of: "It is he."

Question

Hi,I am slightly confused with the sentence "It is he." I know that this sentence is grammatically correct, and "It is him" is not. The 'is' modifies 'it,' but I have been under the assumption that if you have a linking verb modifying a subject, you set the subject equal to another subject. Am I wrong, or is 'he' also a subject? I'm aware this question is a bit perplexing, so if anyone is able to, would you just explain this sentence to me, and tell me what part of speech each word is?Thanks

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Charles;

It's like this.

Adjectives modify (describe) nouns.
Adverbs modify verbs or adjectives.

Verbs do not modify (describe) nouns.

The English sentence has a subject, verb and sometimes complements (objects) or adjuncts (adverbials).

In your sentence "It is he." The subject is "it;" the verb is "is" and the subject complement is "he".

Here is a good basic reference:

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/subjectcomplement.htm

Englishmaven · Answer

Verbs do not modify subjects. Verbs agree with subject. As far as parts of speech go, both "it" and "he" are pronouns; in this case, they are both subject pronouns. There are time when "it" is an object pronoun. Consider the following example of the situation we have here.

The teacher is Mr. Jones.

In this sentence, "teacher" and "Mr. Jones" have the same reference. Both refer to a

The teacher is Mr. Jones.

In this sentence, "teacher" and "Mr. Jones" have the same reference. Both refer to a man by the name of Mr. Jones. When subjective structures follow linking verbs (Mr. Jones in this instance), that is called a predicate nominative (or predicate noun). You could flip the sentence over and say, "Mr. Jones is the teacher." The word "him" is not correct (It is him) because after a linking verb, when the noun structure refers to (restates) the subject, it is subjective and is called the predicate noun.

The winners are they.

The best cook is she.

When identifying yourself on the phone, you say, "This is she" or "This is he."

May I speak with John?

This is he.

The subject must agree with the verb. The complement (predicate noun) does not always agree with the verb:

This is not fun and games. ("This" is singular while "fun and games" is plural. "This" agrees with "is." The predicate noun "fun and games" does not have to agree with the verb.)

What is the subject of: "It is he."

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