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Title: Grammar - who vs whom Post by: peana on June 29, 2005, 09:44:33 am I've got my trusted Oxford Guide to English Usage, but today it's not helping. Can anyone recommend a good grammar site? At the moment I'm having a dilema about using 'who' and 'whom', but helpful advice such as "Formal usage restricts the use of the interrogative and relative pronoun who to the subject of the clause only" is lost on me this morning! There were huge storms in London last night and I managed to get soaked waiting for my bus - I'm definitely not on the ball this morning (hope I'm not getting a summer cold). I need a simple explanation!
Title: Re: Grammar - who vs whom Post by: bethalize on June 29, 2005, 10:09:14 am Erg! I do my grammar instinctively, having learnt (or should that be learned?) it from reading. I wasn't taught any grammar after verb, adjective, noun in school and I feel the lack as an adult.
My favourite piece of advice is from http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/w.html While it's possible to memorize a rule for distinguishing who from whom, it's easier to trust your ear. A simple test to see which is proper is to replace who/whom with he/him. If he sounds right, use who; if him is right, use whom. For example: since he did it and not him did it, use who did it; since we give something to him and not to he, use to whom. It gets tricky only when the preposition is separated from the who: Who/whom did you give it to? Rearrange the words in your head: "To whom did you give it?" See Preposition at the End and Hypercorrection. See the original for italics. Some others that might help: http://www.uhv.edu/ac/student/writing/grammartip080204.html http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20021113.html Bethalize Peer Moderator Title: Re: Grammar - who vs whom Post by: peana on June 29, 2005, 01:26:40 pm Excellent! That's just what I needed. Huge thanks.
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