Some of whom or who?

Question

Some of whom are musically gifted.Some of who are musically gifted.He waved to whoever is left in the stadium.He waved to whomever is left in the stadium.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Some of whom are musically gifted.
He waved to whoever was left in the stadium.

BarbaraPA · Answer

You will hear that "whom" is rarely used these days. That is true. One time we still use "whom" is when it comes right after a preposition: some of whom.

Do you understand why "whoever" is the grammatical choice? (Hint: You have a embedded clause, and that clause needs a subject.)

RandomGuy · Answer

Note that some of whom are musically gifted is a dependent clause; that is, it can’t stand alone as a sentence.

I have many talented students, some of whom are musically gifted.
I have many talented students. Some of them are musically gifted.

Virginiajean · Answer

Right. It is was.

AlpheccaStars, could you explain why the pronoun object of the preposition (in the first sentence), acting as a subject in the clause, is in its objective case; while in the second sentence, the it is in a subjective form?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

VirginiajeanRight. It is was.AlpheccaStars, could you explain why the pronoun object of the preposition (in the first sentence), acting as a subject in the clause, is in its objective case; while in the second sentence, the it is in a subjective form?

There are 20 students in my class, some [of whom] are musically gifted. Note that you can remove the prepositional phrase, and it's still OK. (...some are musically gifted.) "of whom" is a prepositional phrase, and "whom" is object case.

He waved [to them.] Note that "them" is the object of the prepositional phrase - [to them]. It is object case.
He waved to [whoever was left in the stadium].
But in this sentence, what you have is an entire clause that is the object of the preposition. It is a noun clause. An entire clause cannot be inflected as a pronoun can. The subject of the clause is "whoever" and the verb is "was."

In a relative clause, the case of the relative pronoun is determined by its position in the subordinate clause.
Some students who are musically gifted are in my class.
Some students whom our teacher invited to an audition are musically gifted.

Virginiajean · Answer

Am I correct with my understanding that in the first sentence, the subject is "some", modified by a short prepositional phrase "of whom", which requires an objective pronoun; while the clausal object of the preposition in the second sentence, since functioning as a noun clause, requires a subjective pronoun?

I appreciate your time and teachings on this.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Yes, I think you got it.

There are 20 students in my class. Some of them are musically gifted.
There are 20 students in my class, some of whom are musically gifted.

The "whom" in your sentence is a relative pronoun, referring to "students".
Whom is the object of the preposition of. The subject is "some" and the verb is "are".

You can compare with this one, where "who" also refers to students, but it is the subject in the subordinate clause not an object of a preposition.

There are a few students in my class who are musically gifted.

Virginiajean · Answer

Thank you very much AlpheccaStars.

KhoshtipMan · Answer

AlpheccaStarsThere are 20 students in my class, and some of whom are musically gifted.

What about this sentence, AS? Is it correct to use whom here in that independent clause?
There are 20 students in my class and some of whom are musically gifted.

I think no. and whom should be replaced with them there.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

KhoshtipManWhat about this sentence, AS? Is it correct to use whom here in that independent clause?

No.

KhoshtipManI think no. and whom should be replaced with them there.

You are correct.

Some of whom or who?

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