Difference Between Him and His

Him vs His

When talking about a person, particularly one which is male, instead of constantly repeating his name, we use pronouns such as “he, him, and his.” They are used as substitutes for the names of the persons who are being talked about. Although they are all used to refer to the same individual, these words have different uses in a sentence.

The word “his” is used either as a pronoun or an adjective. It is a possessive pronoun that is used in lieu of a noun phrase which starts with a possessive adjective. They are used to do away with having to repeat noun phrases or nouns.

Examples are the following sentences:

“Rudy’s sister is a nun. His sister lives in a monastery.”
In the second sentence, the word “his” is used instead of the name of the person in order to keep from repeating his name. It is also used as an adjective to modify a noun or noun phrase. It can be used as an adjective determiner expressing nouns or noun phrases in context rather than their attributes. It is a pronominal adjective that is used to convey possession.

Take these sentences for example:

“Barry keeps insisting that the dog is his even though it runs away whenever it sees him.”
“After a while it was found out that it was really his dog.”
In the first sentence, the word “his” is used to convey ownership, and in the second sentence it is used as an adjective determiner.
The word “him,” on the other hand, is the objective form of the pronoun “he.” It is used as an object of a verb or of a preposition. It differs from the subjective pronoun which is the initiator of the verb or the performer of the action.

Take a look at these examples:
“Joe is a better writer than Bob. Joe is a better writer than he. Joe is a better writer than him.” Both the words “he” and “him” in the second and third sentences are used as pronouns to replace the noun Bob. The word “him” in the third sentence is used as an object of the preposition “than.”
The word “him” is used to refer to a person who has already been previously mentioned and identified as the one that is being talked about. Like these sentences: “Joey is a nice person. What I like most about him is that he is very kind and patient.”

Summary:

1.“Him” is the objective form of the pronoun “he” while the word “his” is the possessive form of the pronoun “he.”
2.The word “his” can also be used as a determiner adjective while the word “him” has no other uses other than as a pronoun.
3.Both the words “him” and “his” are used to take the place of nouns, but they are used differently in sentences.
4.“Him” is used to refer to a person who has already been mentioned while “his” is used to convey ownership or possession.

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