a friend of his vs a friend of him

The correct phrase is 'a friend of his.' 'His' is a possessive pronoun that shows ownership, while 'him' is an objective pronoun used as the object of a verb or preposition. In this case, 'his' is needed to indicate that the friend belongs to the person.

Last updated: April 04, 2024 • 1438 views

a friend of his

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

Use 'a friend of his' when you want to indicate that the friend belongs to a specific person. 'His' is a possessive pronoun that shows ownership.

Examples:

That's a friend of his from college.
She's a friend of his who lives in the same neighborhood.
I met a friend of his at the party last night.
Is that a friend of his sitting over there?
She introduced me to a friend of his who works at the company.

Show examples from the web [+]

I'm a friend of his, Yoni.
We were doing the house of a friend of his.
After all, you're a friend of his.
If you're a friend of his, you know how fond he is of the children.
I'm a friend of his.
Mr. Lonza will be gambling with a friend of his...
The victim was a friend of his.
With a friend of his, Rocco, an Italian.
The house belongs to a friend of his.
I met a friend of his tonight.
There's a videotape that a friend of his has.
This is a friend of his, Gary Walsh.
It was a friend of his from the army.
He said this guy was a friend of his.
This guy's a friend of his.
When I was 5, my-my father introduced me to a friend of his.
Yes. Why? I'm trying to find a friend of his, Chris Chahal, and my daughter Jenny.
He was in the saloon drinking with a friend of his, Sam Hacker.
They went to see a new sculpture by a friend of his.
He said he was going to... see a friend of his.

Alternatives:

his friend
one of his friends
a friend of John's
a friend of hers
a friend of mine

a friend of him

This phrase is incorrect in English. 'Him' is an objective pronoun and cannot be used to show possession.

Show examples from the web [+]

We started the band in 1994 together with my brother and a friend of him Alex.
In one case Qazim and a friend of him are arrested and sent to the nearest police station, where interviewed by the officers of the UDB (the Serb secret service).
The portrait of Jaime Sebartes, who was a friend of him and his personnel secretary, was painted in 1937.
Now he lives in a caravan in an apple orchard of a friend of him.
This infant warrior, in his enterprises discomfited great Douglas, ta'en him once, enlarged him, made a friend of him, to fill the mouth of deep defiance up and shake the peace and safety of our crown.
Because of his health, Lorenzo can't go to Istanbul, so he confides in a friend of him, Pierfrancesco Maria Guccini, count of Rosazza, called Piero, who offers to help.That very night Lorenzo dies of a second heart attack.

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