The following sentence is from a newspaper. Is the word "him" used correctly? Shouldn't it be "his"?
"Before her death, John had filed a lawsuit against Mary on the grounds of him threatening and insulting her."
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KillingTime
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2The sentence is confusing. Why would someone sue because they were threatening the defendant? Was it not the person being threatened who did the suing? Or was the lawsuit part of the threats? In which case it should not be "on the grounds". – dubious Nov 16 '21 at 07:47
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Having read the sentence several times, it just doesn't make sense logically, let alone use of 'him' - or 'his'. – Tim Nov 16 '21 at 13:46
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I agree that it doesn't make much sense. But to answer the question, both accusative "him" and genitive "his" are correct, the latter being the more formal alternant. – BillJ Nov 16 '21 at 15:47