More Pronoun Problems: This Time, Blame it on Gerunds

A young commentator on one of the many television shows currently surrounding the personal lives of entertainers was heard saying of a certain male performer and his social plans: "It's about him going to the party." She possibly intended to correctly say:

It's about his going to the party.

The sentence breaks down as: It (subject) is (verb) about (preposition) his going to the party (object of preposition).

Another way of expressing the sentence: His going to the party (subject) is (verb) [what "it" is about.]

"...going to the party" acts as a gerund phrase. A gerund, or gerund phrase has noun characteristics and therefore can be modified by an adjective. This explains the reason for using "his" not "him in the pronoun position. In this syntax, the function of the pronoun is as a possessive adjective not objective case pronoun used singularly as object of preposition. The whole gerund phrase with the possessive adjective functions as the object of the preposition.

Let's try to isolate the pronoun him used as object of preposition: It's about him going to the party. This expression does not work grammatically because it would force the use of "going to the party" as a verbal adjective modifying "him." Yet, what adjective question is it answering? Which him? What kind of him? How many of him? Doesn't make sense.

The intended expression must be: "It is about his going to the party. Will he attend the party, or not? The subject is clearly not about "him," the subject concerns "going to the party".

Testing your mettle: What if the commentator has been describing more than one celebrity? How should she have expressed the sentence? Those of you who responded: It's about their going to the party are correct.