predicate nominative or predicate noun
The predicate noun or predicate nominative is a word or group of words that comes after a linking verb and refers back to the subject of the sentence. It gives another name or designation to the subject. The following sentences end with a predicate noun:
My car is a Saturn.
My cat's name is Dickens.
Car and Saturn are the same thing. Cat's name and Dickens are also the same thing.
pronouns as predicate nouns
When a pronoun is put in the position of predicate noun, it should be in subjective rather than objective case: that is, "I" rather than "me," "he" rather than "him." This is particularly true in more formal situations.
It is I.
That is he.
If those sentences sound strange to you, the Grammar Doctor hereby give you permission to say,
It's me.
Yeah, that's him.
If you're torn between being grammatically correct and sounding stiff and unnatural, instead of saying,
It is I,
you can say,
This is Carl.
Instead of saying,
That is he,
you can say,
He's the one.
Do you still have questions?
E-mail the Grammar Doctor