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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Which one is correct? (who or whom)

''In my case, it's Bruce Willis whom I don't like'' <-- (my pick, but I'm not sure)

or

''In my case, it's Bruce Willis who I don't like''?

I noticed that people actually use both variants in similar sentences, so I just wanted to know which one is actually correct and why?
  

Top answer

The pronoun who is inflected this way: subject - who object - whom possessive - whose In your sentence, the case of the pronoun is determined by its position in the dependent clause. So you have picked the "correct" word, according to its function as direct object. However, this pronoun has been losing its inflection.

— AlpheccaStars

  • The pronoun who is inflected this way: subject - who object - whom possessive - whose In your sentence, the case of the pronoun is determined by its position in the dependent clause.
  • So you have picked the "correct" word, according to its function as direct object.
  • However, this pronoun has been losing its inflection.
  • The loss of inflections and case endings has been steadily progressing in English since Old English.
  • The pronouns have been tenacious in hanging on to their inflections, although many have been lost (thee, thy, thine, thou, ye, wit, etc..
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1 Answers
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The pronoun who is inflected this way:
subject - who
object - whom
possessive - whose

In your sentence, the case of the pronoun is determined by its position in the dependent clause. So you have picked the "correct" word, according to its function as direct object.

However, this pronoun has been losing its inflection. The loss of inflections and case endings h
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