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When the gerund is used in object position, we can say:

She hates his ignoring her.
Or
She hates him ignoring her.

What if we use it in subject position?
Using a possessive adjective is correct. What about an object pronoun or a subject pronoun?
As in :

His ignoring her annoys her.
Him ignoring her annoys her.
He ignoring her annoys her.

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    "He ignoring her" is not correct by the way. It doesn't make sense.
    – Aric
    Aug 22, 2017 at 9:55
  • @AricFowler you mean "Him ignoring her." is grammatical? Aug 22, 2017 at 10:09
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    "His" and "Him" both make sense. "He" does not.
    – Aric
    Aug 22, 2017 at 10:11
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    @AricFowler Yes, and 'his' is more formal. Aug 22, 2017 at 10:45

1 Answer 1

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First "He ignoring her" is not correct in any position. The subject of a gerund does not use a subject pronoun.

"She hates him ignoring her" and "She hates his ignoring her" are very close in meaning. In formal writing, the latter is preferred. In less formal contexts the former is common.

There can be a slight difference in meaning, the first suggests "She hates him when he ignores her" the second suggests "She hates the act of ignoring, when he ignores her."

You can often re-phrase, if using "his ignoring" seems to old fashioned: "She hates it when he ignores her." is correct and idiomatic.

The same goes for the gerund in subject position: both "his" and "him" are correct, but "his" is more formal, and you can rephrase "When he ignores her, she gets annoyed."

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