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Jisu98 Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Thanks but agian.. the person that you are used to be

Thanks to all who answered my question before.

I learned that 'who' needs an 'antecedent'. (thanks)

But, I am still wondering "He is not the man who his father wants him to be" is possible or not. Is it used in real English?
  

Top answer

I'd omit the "who" myself. It's perfectly understandable without it. Just my two cents though.

— Julielai

  • I'd omit the "who" myself.
  • It's perfectly understandable without it.
  • Just my two cents though.
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10 Answers
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I'd omit the "who" myself. It's perfectly understandable without it.

Just my two cents though.
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Do you mean that the proper relative pronoun should be 'that'-- which is omitable? I learned already 'He is not what his father wants him to be.' and 'He is not the man that his father wants him to be.' are both right.
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Again, my two cents:

He is not the man who murdered the President. (okay)

He is not the man who his father wants him to be. (doesn't sound right)

He is not the man his father wants him to be. (okay)

Again, my 2c here...
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Hello Jisu,

I think your sentence is correct at least grammatically. Take a more simple sentence for the convenience of discussion: [1]"He is not the man who he was". Here "the man" is the subject complement in the main clause, and "who" is the subject complement in the relative clause. In English, at least in formal English, the subject complement can take the nominative case (as "It is
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Thank you 'Julielai' and 'paco 2004'

I just want to check.

'He is (not) the man that he was.' -- right

'He is (not) what he was.' ----- right (a)

'He is (not) who he was.' ----- right (b)

'He is (not) the man who he was.' ----- looks ok but not used in real life (can be right only grammatic
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Hi Jisu98,

My instinct told me b could mean a change in identity (instead of a change in substance, e.g. personality????), but perhaps someone else has a different opinion.

Cheers.
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Thank you.

I guessed that way.

In (a), I think , it could mean a change in 'personality.' what do you think?
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Hello Jusu

I have surfed online to look for the difference between "He is not what he was" and "He is not who he was". The tentative conclusion I got is there is no significant difference in the meaning. Both means a person has changed in his/her abilities or appearance to some negative direction. The difference seems that "what" is of formal usage and "who" is of informal usage.
(EX
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Thank you so much. It was a big help.

In deed, in Korea, I can account this kind of question so often.

like, you know, "He is not the man that / who he used to be."

Anyway, I now know that the answer is 'that'.

And it also can be "He is not what
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Jisu98And it also can be "He is not what he was." or "He is not who he was."
But, the first one is better. Right? Thank you again!
Yes, "S/he is not what s/he was" seems more correct than "S/he is not who s/he was". The former is used in 27 books digitized by
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