Who or Whom?
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Ea.cool  #470973  Thu, 31 Jan 08 10:45 AM

Hi everyone!

I want to know which one of these two words - who & whom- best fit in these sentences:

  1. “Who have you been talking to?” Or “Whom have you been talking to?”
  2. “You don’t know who you are dealing with.” Or, “You don’t know whom you are dealing with.”

Thanks.
  
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Yankee  #471006  Thu, 31 Jan 08 12:29 PM
If you want to sound natural in everyday speech and writing, you should use the the sentences with 'who' -- even though the traditional "prescriptive" grammar would require the use of 'whom'.
  
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Philip  #471108  Thu, 31 Jan 08 04:32 PM
 Yankee wrote:
If you want to sound natural in everyday speech and writing, you should use the the sentences with 'who' -- even though the traditional "prescriptive" grammar would require the use of 'whom'.

I would add that a person who uses 'whom' and still puts the preposition at the end of the sentence (rather than before 'whom') sounds a bit pretentious: a half-way and not fully educated attempt at sophistication.
  
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Ea.cool  #471366  Fri, 01 Feb 08 06:54 AM
Ah, okay. Thanks a lot guys.
  
Anonymous  #472023  Sun, 03 Feb 08 03:28 AM
Eh, this is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.
*smiles*
  
Philip  #472138  Sun, 03 Feb 08 02:55 PM

 Anonymous wrote:
Eh, this is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.
*smiles*
I've always liked the concept of two- and three-word verbal expressions.  'Put up with' (=tolerate) is one of them.  I do not see either 'up' or 'with' as a preposition after the verb 'put'; I see them as part of an expression that need not be separated by those who insist on carrying something to an extreme.  So, I have no problem with 'that is something I will not put up with".

The quote is still a great one!  Is it Shaw or Churchill? 
  
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