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JJDouglas Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
"Be careful. Not everyone is who/whom they say they are."
Unless I am getting confused over the rules, the above sentence should use "whom" because it is the object of the clause, with "they" as the subject ("they say they are whom").
If I try rearranging it in accordance with the he/him rule, I get this:
"They say they are them", which means it should be whom.
But despite this, "who" still sound better. Is there something I am missing that makes "who" the right choice in this example?
If I try rearranging it in accordance with the he/him rule, I get this:
"They say they are them", which means it should be whom.
But despite this, "who" still sound better. Is there something I am missing that makes "who" the right choice in this example?
Top answer
JJDouglas object of the clause No. Linking verbs ( are ) do not take objects, so there is nowhere in that clause where the object form of 'who' ( whom ) can be used. Who are they?
- JJDouglas object of the clause No.
- Linking verbs ( are ) do not take objects, so there is nowhere in that clause where the object form of 'who' ( whom ) can be used.
- Who are they?
- from They are who?
- CJ
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1 Answers
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JJDouglasobject of the clauseNo. Linking verbs (are) do not take objects, so there is nowhere in that clause where the object form of 'who' (whom) can be used. Who are they? from They are who?
CJ
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