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Victo Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

'of whom,' 'to whom,' 'with whom,' 'of which,' 'to which'

Are these grammatically correct?

Please carbon-copy the supervisor to whom you report.

That is the girl with whom I share an intimate relationship.

That is the organization of which I am a member.

That was the individual against whom the charges were levied.

That was the task to which you were assigned.

The men, four of whom are ill, were indicted for fraud.

The cats, four of which were removed from the animal shelter, received tetanus shots.
I don't believe we use whom for cats because they are not human.

Thanks.
  

Top answer

All these sentences are grammatically correct. This sentence structure is mostly suited to more formal written English, rather than conversation. Conversationally one would say "Please carbon-copy the supervisor (who) you report to", "That's the girl (who) I share/have an intimate relationship with", and so forth.

— Mr Wordy

  • All these sentences are grammatically correct.
  • This sentence structure is mostly suited to more formal written English, rather than conversation.
  • Conversationally one would say "Please carbon-copy the supervisor (who) you report to", "That's the girl (who) I share/have an intimate relationship with", and so forth.
  • You are right about not using "whom" for cats.
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13 Answers
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All these sentences are grammatically correct. This sentence structure is mostly suited to more formal written English, rather than conversation. Conversationally one would say "Please carbon-copy the supervisor (who) you report to", "That's the girl (who) I share/have an intimate relationship with", and so forth.

You are right about not using "whom" for cats.
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Can I also say, "My success is due to my friends, of whom I have many."

I know that I can also say, "My success is due to my many friends," But I wanted to know if the above sentence was correct.

Thanks.
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victoCan I also say, "My success is due to my friends, of whom I have many."
Yes. Again, this feels rather formal.
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Can I say:

That is the company with which I am employed.

That is a task for which you are responsible.
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victoCan I say:

That is the company with which I am employed.

That is a task for which you are responsible.
Yes. As before, these sentences are more for written English than for conversation.
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victoThat was the task to which you were assigned.
This one doesn't work. You are assigned a task, not assigned TO a task.

That was the TEAM to which you were assigned.

You were the person to whom the TASK was assigned.
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Grammar Geek
victoThat was the task to which you were assigned.
This one doesn't work.
Hmm. I'm afraid I don't agree with you there, GG.
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The way I think of a task, it's assigned to YOU to do.
I guess you could say "I've assigned Peter and Marge to this task" but that doesn't seem nearly as natural as "I've assigned this task to Peter and Marge, who will work together to get it done."

You may be assigned to a project or a team, but I wouldn't say you were assigned to a task.

You would? Regional variation?
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Grammar GeekYou would? Regional variation?
I suspect it's more a personal usage differences than a regional variation. I know you can find any old stuff on Google, but I just poked around in Book Search and there seem to be a fairly healthy number of hits for "person assigned to the task", including US publications:

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Mr WordyYou are right about not using "whom" for cats.

Actually it's okay to use who/whom for animals, especially pets. Often using 'that' or 'which' sounds unnatural:

She was stroking the cat, who was looking extremely contented.

She was stroking the cat, which was looking extremely contented.

This is my cat, whom I love dearly
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