Is It “Her And Her Husband” or “She And Her Husband”?

Pronouns often cause confusion in the English Language and choosing the correct one to use in a sentence can be tricky. Both “her and her husband” and “she and her husband,” appear to mean the same thing, but there is a definite correct choice depending on the sentence context.

Is It “Her And Her Husband” Or “She And Her Husband”?

Both versions of the phrase are correct if used in the proper context within a sentence. You use “her and her husband” in the objective case (pronoun functions as an object) and “she and her husband” in the subjective case (pronoun functions as a subject).

In other words, a pronoun is “objective” if it is being used as the “object” within the sentence. Similarly, a pronoun is “subjective” if it is used as the “subject” of the sentence.

The subject of a sentence is the noun that is doing or being something. The direct object in a sentence is the word or phrase that receives the action of the verb.

When Should I Use “Her And Her Husband”?

Use “her and her husband” when the pronoun “her” is acting as the direct object in the sentence. That is, it is the word that is receiving the action completed by the verb. The phrase is only grammatically correct when used in this way.

Let’s clarify this statement further with some concrete examples.

• The neighborhood award for the best-kept yard, went to her and her husband.
• We went to dinner last night with her and her husband.
• I talked to her and her husband about the possibility of working together in the future.

Notice how in these sentences, “her and her husband” are the recipients of a particular action. In the first example, they received an award. In the second example, they went to dinner. In the third example, someone else talked to them.

A good check that you can use to make sure you have the right pronoun in sentences like these is to remove the second half of the phrase “and her husband” and see if the sentence still makes sense.

For example:

• The neighborhood award for best-kept yard went to her.
• We went to dinner last night with her.
• I talked to her about the possibility of working together in the future.

See how if you replaced the word “she” with the word “her,” the sentence wouldn’t make sense grammatically, so the correct phrase is “her and her husband.”

When Should I Use “She And Her Husband”?

Use “she and her husband” when the pronoun “she” is acting as the subject of the sentence. When it is the subject, it is the noun that is doing the action in the sentence. The phrase is only grammatically correct when used in this way.

Here are some examples for further understanding and clarification.

• She and her husband went on vacation to Paris last summer.
• Julie told us that she and her husband met while they were in school together.
• She and her husband bought a house on the other side of town a few months ago.

Look at how in each of these sentences, the phrase “she and her husband” represents the people performing the action. In the first example, they went on vacation. In the second example, they met while they were in school (the “She” refers to Julie in this case). In the third example, they bought a house.

Use the same check as for “her and her husband” to make sure you have chosen the correct pronoun. Let’s see what happens to the first and third example sentences when we remove “her husband” from the phase.

• She went on vacation to Paris last summer.
• She bought a house on the other side of town a few months ago.

The second example poses a bit more of a challenge. In this example “her husband” is acting like a subject complement and is necessary to complete the meaning of the sentence. See here how if we remove “her husband” from the sentence, it doesn’t make sense:

• Julie told us that she met while they were in school together.

Subject complements can often cause confusion among both non-native and native English speakers. In this case, check you have the correct pronoun by rewording the sentence a different way:

• Julie told us that she met her husband while they were in school together.

When we reword the sentence, we can see that it would not make sense if we replaced the word “she” with “her.”

Is “Her And Her Husband” Or “She And Her Husband” Used The Most?

The phrase “she and her husband” is used more often in the English Language and has been the more frequently used of the two phrases since the early 1800s. It continues to trend upward in usage.

The Google Ngram Viewer here shows that up until about 1830, the two phrases were used at pretty much the same rate. After 1830 the phrase “she and her husband” grew significantly more popular, suggesting that the preferred way to use the phrase is in the “subjective” form.

Are “Her And Her Husband” And “She And Her Husband” Used Differently In The UK And The US?

In both the UK and the US, the phrase “she and her husband” is used more often than the phrase “her and her husband.” Similar to overall in the English Language, this trend started in the mid-1800s.

The Google Ngram Viewer here shows the trends of the two phrases in American English.

This Google Ngram Viewer shows the direction in British English.

As you can see, the usage rate is quite similar, particularly in modern times.

Is It More Proper To Use “Her Husband And Her” And “Her Husband And She”?

It is more popular in the English Language to use the phrase “her husband and her,” and as seen in this Google Ngram Viewer, “her husband and she” is rarely used at all. “She and her husband” still remains the most popular used form.

In any case, if using the variations “her and her husband” and “her husband and she” be sure to follow the rules discussed earlier regarding the objective case and subjective case.

See these examples below for further illustration.

• Objective Case: I gave the paperwork to her husband and her told them to review it this week.
• Subjective Case: Her husband and she moved into the big brick house down the road.

Notice how, although technically grammatically correct, the two sentences sound more awkward than when using “her and her husband” and “she and her husband.” However, they are being used properly because if you remove the “and her” and “and she” from the sentences, they still make sense.

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