he
part of speech
pronoun (he — subject; him — object; his — possessive; himself — reflexive); noun (a he — a male, informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) He is a word used for a boy, a man or a male animal who was already named, so you do not repeat the name. tree →
2) He is the subject of a sentence: he does the action. tree →
3) Sometimes he is used for any person when we do not know who, but today «they» is more common. tree →
4) (informal) A he is a male animal or person: «Is the puppy a he or a she?» tree →
5) (casual) In quick talk he is often dropped or squeezed: «he's» = he is or he has, «he'd» = he would or he had, «he'll» = he will; «Where's he gone?» tree →
6) (rough, UK casual) «Him» and «his» are sometimes said for «he» in broken talk: «him and me went» or «how many he got left then» — understood, but not standard. tree →
sense in the lessons
Points back to a person in the story, the owner of the amounts. In reading, he tells you who is doing something. In stories: «Once there was a boy. He lived by the sea.» In casual talk the person is often never named — he is the one everybody can see («he's growling», «he took 3, the git»). In the formal exam voice «he» is often replaced by the name, «the aforementioned boy», or the passive («3 pens are purchased by Tom»). Phrases: «he is», «he has», «he's», «he said, she said», «he who…» (old, formal).
examples
- Tom has 8 pens. He buys 4 more. tree →
- He gave 3 to Sam. tree →
- How many does he have now? tree →
- He walked 2 km. tree →
- My dog is old, but he still loves to run. tree →
- Dad says he will pick us up at three. tree →
- He's my best friend. tree →
- Ask the coach if he has a spare ball. tree →
- he ate 3 of my chips, the greedy git, how many i got left (casual, rough) tree →
- can i pet him?? he's growling (casual) tree →
- Him and his brother got 5 each, so 10 in all, innit (casual, broken grammar) tree →
- It is given that he subsequently acquires a further 4 pens; determine the total in his possession. (formal exam) tree →
- "Good morning, Little Red-Cap," he said. tree →
note
No clue about the operation, but it tells whose amount changes. Trap: with two boys in the story, check which one «he» means (usually the one named last or the subject). Use «he» as subject, «him» after a verb (I saw him), «his» for owning (his bike). He's = he is or he has; he'd = he would or he had. «Him and me went» is casual speech; in writing say «He and I went». In casual and rough talk the person may be named only by an insult (the git, the idiot) — it is still the same he, and the insult does not change the numbers. Formal «in his possession» = what he has.
In the corpora
- By the end of the call there is a plan, and he says, "Right.
- Mum gives him a smile and buys him a coffee.
- Later Mum explains: Grandpa needs a small operation and they were planning the trip to visit him.
- At bedtime Mum explains he had an awful week at work, and Dad comes up and says, "Sorry, mate.
- «Third time this week» is nobody's count, and why he parks there is his business until somebody simply asks him.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «he» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.