ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

CalifJim — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:45:41 GMT

I don't like the boy who you are pointing to. OK. Use whom instead in formal contexts.
I don't like the boy whom pointed his finger at you. Impossible. This must be who. He pointed his finger, not Him pointed his finger.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:31:05 GMT

Thank you. I think I was confusing the first one with the second one.

I don't like the boy who you are pointing to.
I don't like the boy whom (not 'who' - I am sure) pointed his finger at you.

Then, again. If the preposition was in the middle of the sentence, 'whom' seemed to be needed.
I don't like the boy to whom you are pointing.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

CalifJim — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:54:52 GMT

Anonymous
I donât like the boy to whom you are talking
I donât like the boy who you are talking to

They are both correct, right?

Yes. They are both correct.

Anonymous
I think "I don't like the boy who you are talking to" is incorrect.

Sorry. You think wrong. You can always use who instead of whom when you leave the preposition 'stranded' at the end. Use whom for very formal contexts.

It would be quite idiomatic to leave out the relative pronoun completely, thus avoiding the use of whom:

I don't like the boy you're talking to.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:23:34 GMT

Hi,

I think what the second sentence example of what Asha101 wrote is incorrect.

Part of what Asha101 wrote:

I donât like the boy to whom you are talking
I donât like the boy who you are talking to

They are both correct, right?

I think "I don't like the boy who you are talking to" is incorrect. Since it is describing the object "boy" I feel it should be "whom." Help.

It should be:
I don't like the boy whom you are talking to.

Any ideas as to how to avoid using the awkard "whom" by rearranging the sentence??

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:18:56 GMT

What is the correct time to use who or whom in a sentance?

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

CalifJim — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:13:20 GMT

To the person (it may concern him).

To the person (whom it may concern).

To whomever it may concern.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:40:20 GMT

Would you use who or whom for:

To whomever it may concern

To whoever it may concern

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

26TMNTJG2PG — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:30:10 GMT

Post 67735 no longer exists.

If, after reading all the explanations, you are still confused, kindly visit post 505277, which hopefully can provide some help.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Yoong Liat — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:01:15 GMT

just the truth
"Who was given the book?" is fine, Paco.

I think it is better to say "To whom was the book given?"

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Anonymous — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:34:37 GMT

When there is an "is" in the sentence it is ALWAYS who.

when you are talking to someone as if they were an object.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

26TMNTJG2PG — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:01:29 GMT

I just joined this Forum a few days ago. I do not know what I going to tell you is still relevant.

I have come across an article "Who" or "Whom" (relative pronouns), careful perusal and digestion of which may be of great help.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

MrPedantic — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:09:55 GMT

Hello Anon,

You're quite right:

1. Whom was given a book?

is incorrect.

(This may not have been clear in the original post, where an asterisk denoted "incorrectness".)

Best wishes,

MrP

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:30:40 GMT

I'm sorry but I think that this example is incorrect. Since 'Max' is the subject of the clause (with 'given' being the verb and the 'book' the object), it would then translate to Who was given the book? If the original sentence had been, Casi gave Max the book then it would translate to To whom did Casi give the book? Since Casi would become the subject of the clause. A good trick for remembering whether to use who or whom, incidentally, is to replace the word who or whom with he or him and see which one sounds right. Whom, of course, corresponds to him. So, for example: Who arrived first or whom arrived first? Obviously, using this method, he arrived first sounds much better than him arrived first so the correct word to use would be who. On the other hand, Whom do I love or who do I love? I love him sounds better than I love he so the correct word to use would be whom.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

MrPedantic — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:26:03 GMT

Asha101 wrote:

Can I say if I use the preposition correctly, I can pretty much avoid "whom" in my writing?

If you are sufficiently determined, you can pretty much avoid "whom". (Do you dislike it, Asha?)

Best wishes,

MrP

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Asha101 — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:47:17 GMT

I donât like the boy to whom you are talking
I donât like the boy who you are talking to

They are both correct, right? Can I say if I use the preposition correctly, I can pretty much avoid "whom" in my writing?