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Guest Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Pronoun help
Hi,
Can someone explain how these sentences are handled? They are from a grammar book I'm working with:
Was it (they/them) (who/whom) you asked to finish painting?
Was it (they) (whom) you asked to finish painting?
Could it have been (they/them) (who/whom) you thought would fight?
Could it have been (they) (who) you thought would fight?
No, it was not (they/them) about (who/whom) I was speaking.
No, it was not (they) about (whom) I was speaking.
I've tried looking at various grammar websites, but I haven't found any that deal with sentences of this nature...
Thanks!
-Marc
P.S. Can someone suggest a grammar book that explains various usages like these?
Can someone explain how these sentences are handled? They are from a grammar book I'm working with:
Was it (they/them) (who/whom) you asked to finish painting?
Was it (they) (whom) you asked to finish painting?
Could it have been (they/them) (who/whom) you thought would fight?
Could it have been (they) (who) you thought would fight?
No, it was not (they/them) about (who/whom) I was speaking.
No, it was not (they) about (whom) I was speaking.
I've tried looking at various grammar websites, but I haven't found any that deal with sentences of this nature...
Thanks!
-Marc
P.S. Can someone suggest a grammar book that explains various usages like these?
Top answer
It's a combination of two points, which should be somewhere in most grammar books. Standard grammar requires the subject pronoun ('they, I , he, etc') after the copulative 'be', and 'who' as subject pronoun/ 'whom' as object of the verb or preposition. Therefore: Was it they whom you asked to finish painting?
- It's a combination of two points, which should be somewhere in most grammar books.
- Standard grammar requires the subject pronoun ('they, I , he, etc') after the copulative 'be', and 'who' as subject pronoun/ 'whom' as object of the verb or preposition.
- Therefore: Was it they whom you asked to finish painting?
- [It was they; you asked whom] Could it have been they who you thought would fight?
- [It could have been they; who would fight] No, it was not they about whom I was speaking.
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1 Answers
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It's a combination of two points, which should be somewhere in most grammar books. Standard grammar requires the subject pronoun ('they, I , he, etc') after the copulative 'be', and 'who' as subject pronoun/ 'whom' as object of the verb or preposition. Therefore:
Was it they whom you asked to finish painting? [It was they; you asked whom]
Could it have been they who you tho
Was it they whom you asked to finish painting? [It was they; you asked whom]
Could it have been they who you tho
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