A.     Form

The old form of the second person singular is: thou (subject)       thee (object)

B.     Use of subject and object forms

1.     you and it present no difficulty as they have the same form for subject and object:

Did you see the snake? ~ Yes, I saw it and it saw me. ~ Did it frighten you?

2.     First and third person forms (other than it)

(a) I, he, she, we, they can be subjects of a verb:

I see it.       He knows you.       They live here. or complements of the verb to be: It is I.

Normally, however, we use the object forms here:

Who is it? ~ It's me.

Where's Tom? ~ That's him over there.

But if the pronoun is followed by a clause, we use the subject forms:

Blame Bill! It was he who chose this colour.

(b) me, him, her, us, them can be direct objects of a verb:

I saw her.       Tom likes them. or indirect objects:

Bill found me a job.       Ann gave him a book.      

or objects of a preposition:

with him      for her      without them      to us

The position of pronoun objects

A.    An indirect object comes before a direct object:

I made Ann/her a cake.       I sent Bill the photos.

However, if the direct object is a personal pronoun it is more usual to place it directly after the verb and use to or for:

I made it for her.       I sent them to him.      

The position rule does not apply to one, some, any, none etc.:

He bought one for Ann or He bought Ann one.

He gave something to Jack or He gave Jack something.

B.     Pronoun objects of phrasal verbs

With many phrasal verbs a noun object can be either in the middle or at the end:

Hand your papers in/Hand in your papers.

Hang your coat up/Hang up your coat.

Take your shoes off/Take off your shoes.

A pronoun object, however, must be placed in the middle:

hand them in      hang it up      take them off

Uses of it

A.    it is normally used of a thing or an animal whose sex we don't know, and sometimes of a baby or small child:

Where's my map? I left it on the table.

Look at that bird. It always comes to my window.

Her new baby is tiny. It only weighs 2 kilos.

B.     it can be used of people in sentences such as:

ANN (on phone): Who is that/Who is it?

BILL: It's me. Is that Tom over there? ~ No, it's Peter.

C.    it is used in expressions of time, distance, weather, temperature, tide:

What time is it? ~ It is six.

What's the date? ~ It's the third of March.

How far is it to York.'' ~ It is 400 kilometers.

How long does it take to get there? ~ It depends on how you go.

It is raining/snowing/freezing.       It's frosty.       It's a fine night.

It's full moon tonight.       In winter it's/it is dark at six o 'clock.

It is hot/cold/quid/noisy in this room.

It's high tide/low tide. Note also:

It's/It is three years since I saw him =

I haven't seen him for three years.

D.     Introductory it

1.     it can introduce sentences of the following type ('cleft sentences'):

It was \Peter who lent us the money, (not Paul)

It's 'today that he's going, (not tomorrow) it is used even with a plural noun:

It's ^pilots that we need, not ground staff.

2.     When an infinitive is subject of a sentence, we usually begin the sentence with it and put the infinitive later; i.e. we say:

It is easy to criticize instead of

To criticize is easy.

It is better to be early instead of

To be early is better.

It seems a pity to give up now instead of

To give up now seems a pity.

If it + be is preceded by find/think (that), the be and the that can often by omitted:

He thought (that) it (would be) better to say nothing.

We found it impossible to get visas.

3.     it can be used similarly when the subject of a sentence is a clause. It would be possible to say:

That he hasn't phoned is odd.

That prices will go up is certain. But it would be much more usual to say:

It's odd that he hasn't phoned.

It's certain that prices will go up. Other examples:

It never occurred to me that perhaps he was lying.

It struck me that everyone was unusually silent.

E.    it/this can represent a previously mentioned phrase, clause or verb:

He smokes in bed, though I don't like it. (it = his smoking in bed)

He suggested flying, but I thought it would cost too much, (it = flying)

F.     it also acts as a subject for impersonal verbs:

it seems       it appears       it looks      it happens

you one and they as indefinite pronouns

A.    you and one

As subjects, either can be used:

Can you/one camp in the forest?

As objects, you is the normal pronoun:

They fine you for parking offences.

you is more common in ordinary conversation. It is a more 'friendly' pronoun and implies that the speaker can imagine himself in such a position.

one is more impersonal and less often used, though the possessive one's is quite common:

It's easy to lose one's/your way in Venice.

The correct possessive form must be used:

One has to show one's pass at the door.

You have to show your pass at the door.

If instead of one or you we use a singular noun, the possessive adjective will obviously be his or her:

One must do one's best.

A traveler has to guard his possessions.

B.    they

they is used as subject only, they can mean 'people':

they say = people say, it is said

They say it is going to be a cold winter.

they can also mean 'the authority concerned', i.e. the government/ the local council/one's employers/the police etc.:

They want to make this a one-way street.

69.    Use of they/them/their with neither/either, someone/everyone/no one etc.

These expressions are singular and take a singular verb. Their personal pronouns therefore should be he/she and the possessive adjectives should be his/her (he/his for males and mixed sexes; she/her for females). But many native speakers find this troublesome and often use they/their, even when only one sex is involved:

Neither of them remembered their instructions.

Would someone lend me their binoculars?

Everyone has read the notice, haven't they?

No one objected, did they?