There are different types of pronouns, such as Personal, Indefinite, Possessive, Relative, Intensive, Reciprocal, Interrogative, Demonstrative, and Reflexive. They each have their subtypes, of which the word ‘HIM’ is. It is an objective (subtype of personal) pronoun. Another one is ‘HIS,’ which is a possessive pronoun.
They have existed since old English. Back then, ‘Him’ is used to known as hym, heom, eom, and ‘His’ used to be called as, his, its, hit, etc. Both the terms are third-person pronouns, which means they are used to talk about or referred to the person that is apart from the spokesperson and listener or is not around. We refer, that person with He, him or his.
Plenty of people assume Him and His are the two same concepts that appear in the place of ‘he.’ Although they represent masculine nouns, they have a variety of use in English Grammer.
Him vs His
The main difference Between Him and His is that their use in sentences. Him is used to referring the noun of He, and His is its possession.
Comparison Table Between Him and His
| Parameter of Comparison | Him | His |
| Meaning | Him is an objective pronoun used in a sentence with reference to masculine noun for its quick recognition. | His is a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective used in a sentence with reference of something that associates to the masculine noun. |
| Part of speech | It appears in a sentence after the verb. | Its possessive pronoun appears wherever it is suitable in a sentence. The possessive adjective appears before noun. |
| Use in Grammar | It is related to the object of the third person. | It is related to the possession of third person. |
| Relation to ‘He’ | Him is used in the replacement of the object of ‘He.’ | His is used before something that is owned by ‘He.’ |
| Alternative Terms | ‘Hym,’ ‘ym,’ ‘hyme,’ ‘hime,’ ‘im,’ ‘himm,’ and ‘hem’ are the alternative terms for ‘Him.’ | ‘Hys,’ ‘ys,’ ‘hise,’ ‘is,’ ‘hies,’ ‘es,’ ‘hes,’ and ‘as’ are the alternative terms for ‘His.’ |
| Type of Pronoun | It is an Objective Pronoun (personal). | It is a Possessive Pronoun. |
| Type of Adjective | It is not an adjective. | It is a possessive adjective. |
| Sample sentence | That emotional movie made him cry. | It is his own guitar. |
| Sample Paragraph | Sudeep is a responsible guy; I know him since school. It will be easy to work with him. | Sudeep is a responsible guy; he knows his responsibilities. It is his quality. |
| Feminine pronouns | Its feminine pronoun is Her. | Its feminine pronoun can be Her or Hers. |
What is Him?
Him is an objective pronoun used in a sentence concerning masculine noun for its quick recognition. It is a third-person pronoun. The masculine term is used in the replacement of the noun of ‘He.’
In grammar, it appears after the verb in a sentence. Its alternative terms are hym, ym, hyme, hime, im, himm, and hem. Its feminine pronoun is ‘Her.’
For example:
- Masculine – That amusing song made him laugh.
- Feminine – That amusing song made her laugh.
The word HIM with different meanings:
In Medical, it is an abbreviation of ‘Health Information Management.’ In Television, it is an animated TV series villain character of ‘The Powerpuff Girls.’ In Music, a very famous Finnish Gothic rock music band.
What is His?
His is a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective used in a sentence with reference of something that associates to the masculine noun. It is a third person pronoun. The masculine term is used in the place of possession of the noun of ‘He.’
In grammar, it appears before the noun if it’s a possessive adjective. And if it is a possessive pronoun then it appears wherever it is suitable in a sentence. Its alternative terms are hys, ys, hise, is, hies, es, hes and as. The feminine pronoun of it is ‘Hers’ and the adjective is ‘Her.’
For example:
In possessive pronoun-
- Masculine – That is his song list.
- Feminine – That is hers song list.
In possessive adjective-
- Masculine – It’s his favorite song list.
- Feminine – It’s her favorite song list.
The word HIS with different meanings:
In Medical, it is a Japanese Travel Agency. In computing, it’s a short form of a Hong Kong graphics card company called ‘Hightech Information System.’
Main Differences Between Him and His
- An objective pronoun used in a sentence with reference to a masculine noun for its quick recognition is called as ‘Him.’ And when a possessive pronoun or a possessive adjective is used in a sentence with reference to something that associates with the masculine noun is known as ‘His.’
- The first term is filled after the verb, and the second one is before the noun or wherever it is suitable in the sentence.
- The term ‘him’ is used in the place of a third-person’ noun, whereas ‘his’ is used to refer to the third person’s possession.
- Replacement of the object of He is Him; on the contrary, its possession is His.
- Him is an objective pronoun; on the other hand, His is a possessive pronoun.
- Him is not an adjective, and His is an adjective.
- Example: Him – The one with the books was him, His – His eyes were speaking for himself.
Conclusion
Him and His are both third-person pronouns used for ‘He.’ They are masculine terms and have different meanings.
They appear at different places in the sentences with individual uniqueness. Both terms have their distinct value in English grammar.
That is why they should not be confused among each other, as they hold totally different meanings in a variety of sentences. As they have a different part of speech, use in grammar, and the relation with ‘he,’ they should be treated and used differently and remain that way.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X03000718
- https://www.hkep.com/_v3/userfiles/book/sample/9789881901576s.pdf
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0024384178900062