2 It’s had it head bit off by it young—­SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare uses his, it, and sometimes its, as possessive of it.

In Milton’s poetry (seventeenth century) its occurs only three times.

     3 See heaven its sparkling portals wide display—­POPE

[Sidenote:  A relic of the olden time.]

82.  We have an interesting relic in such sentences as this from Thackeray:  “One of the ways to know ’em is to watch the scared looks of the ogres’ wives and children.”

As shown above, the Old English objective was hem (or heom), which was often sounded with the h silent, just as we now say, “I saw ’im yesterday” when the word him is not emphatic.  In spoken English, this form ’em has survived side by side with the literary them.

[Sidenote:  Use of the pronouns in personification.]

83.  The pronouns he and she are often used in poetry, and sometimes in ordinary speech, to personify objects (Sec. 34).

CASES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

I The Nominative.

[Sidenote:  Nominative forms.]

84.  The nominative forms of personal pronouns have the same uses as the nominative of nouns (see Sec. 58).  The case of most of these pronouns can be determined more easily than the case of nouns, for, besides a nominative use, they have a nominative form.  The words I, thou, he, she, we, ye, they, are very rarely anything but nominative in literary English, though ye is occasionally used as objective.

[Sidenote:  Additional nominatives in spoken English.]

85.  In spoken English, however, there are some others that are added to the list of nominatives:  they are, me, him, her, us, them, when they occur in the predicate position.  That is, in such a sentence as, “I am sure it was him,” the literary language would require he after was; but colloquial English regularly uses as predicate nominatives the forms me, him, her, us, them, though those named in Sec. 84 are always subjects.  Yet careful speakers avoid this, and follow the usage of literary English.

II.  The Possessive.

[Sidenote:  Not a separate class.]

86.  The forms my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their, are sometimes grouped separately as POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, but it is better to speak of them as the possessive case of personal pronouns, just as we speak of the possessive case of nouns, and not make more classes.

[Sidenote:  Absolute personal pronouns.]