Who or whom
Usually, I can easily determine which is correct by trying 'he" or "him" instead but sometimes not. What about this sentence:
To the British, those whom we called patriots were traitors.
Is it grammatically correct? I say "grammatically, "because I have recently been exploring the differences between elocutionary/rhetorical punctuation and "syntactical/grammatical " punctuation. For now, I just want the grammatical way, even though I recognize that it might be the same as the rhetorical way in this case.
Should it be "who" or "whom"?
Top answer
Whom is the object of called, and that's why the sentence is grammatical. However, in informal style who is also commonly used in cases like this. CB
- Whom is the object of called, and that's why the sentence is grammatical.
- However, in informal style who is also commonly used in cases like this.
- CB
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
Whom is the object of called, and that's why the sentence is grammatical. However, in informal style who is also commonly used in cases like this.
CB
0The most prolific example of who/whom is when the the who/whom is about the object of a prepositional phrase. He gave it to the man who/whom was laughing.
I maintain it's who because even though 'the man' is objective, the following words treat it as a subject. In a diagram, I would append "who was laughing" off the man as its subject.
0
Related Questions