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I was reading the Grammar for Dummies book by Geraldine Woods, and in page 24, under the Placing the Proper Pronoun in the Proper Place section, the author stated the following:

The pronoun you put after a linking verb should be the same kind of pronoun that you put before a linking verb.

She gave a few examples, and an analysis:

  • The winner of the election is him!
  • Him is the winner of the election!

Uh oh. Something's wrong. You don't say him is, unless you're in an old Tarzan movie. You say he is. Because you have a linking verb (is), you must put the same word after the linking verb that you would put before the linking verb. Try it again:

  • The winner of the election is he!
  • He is the winner of the election!

Now you've got the correct ending for your sentence.

The third example, "The winner of the election is he!", sounds a bit weird to me. Shouldn't you use him instead? Or ... perhaps I just misinterpreted here?

Edwin Ashworth
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Harvey
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  • Not all books on grammar are gospel, asdf. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 28 '21 at 12:01
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    This book is teaching you 19th century grammar. In 21st century grammar, you put the objective case after the linking verb. Language changes. – Peter Shor Jul 28 '21 at 12:50
  • @EdwinAshworth I am not saying it is, nor do I treat it like one. I was simply perplexed. My instincts says the opposite of what the book is saying. I can't possibly know which one is "correct." That's why I asked here.

    Apologies for any grammar errors.

     – Harvey Jul 29 '21 at 06:47
  • There is a list of recommended grammars (ie books on grammar) in the resources thread on ELU.Meta. Grammar for Dummies and Strunk and White are not mentioned. Some of McCawley is available online, but the other great works are extremely expensive. All these are demanding. 'Intermediate Level' grammar is usually well addressed, in a balanced way, by Professor Nordquist, at ThoughtCo. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 29 '21 at 11:24

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