him1
/hɪm
/pronoun [third person singular]
1Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a male person or animal previously mentioned or easily identified: his wife survived him he took the children with him...Compare with he.
- Nobody has mentioned him but he's playing well enough to figure and we know he loves it round Augusta.
- George Ryan's work on the death penalty has brought him mention as a contender for the peace prize.
- He was very grateful for the meals that had previously been provided for him.
1.1Referring to a person or animal of unspecified sex: withdrawing your child from school to educate him at home may seem drastic...
- It could even be educational: give it to a child and watch him grow up to be the next John Bonham.
- I don't know who the new Tory leader will be but education will figure highly with him.
1.2Used after the verb ‘to be’ and after ‘than’ or ‘as’: that’s him all right I could never be as good as him...
- I'll try to be faster than him, of course, but I don't even know him yet.
- Suddenly Ammu hoped that it had been him that Rahel saw in the march.
1.3West Indian He: him was a tall, bow-legged man
2 archaic or North American dialect Himself: in the depths of him, he too didn’t want to go
Usage
Why do people tell us that it is wrong to say I could never be as good as him (rather than I could never be as good as he)? If they are right, why does he in this context sound so odd? For a discussion of this issue, see personal pronoun (usage).
Origin
Old English, dative singular form of he, hē 'he' and hit 'it'.
Rhymes
HIM2
abbreviation British
Her or His Imperial Majesty.