WHO or WHOM? A 90% Trick

Self | 30APR03 | bannie

[bannie]

In a recent thread, we discussed teachers' various abilities/inabilities. With the banter about math "blocks," I had to start calling people on the frequent mis-usage of the pronoun "that."

I teased others--and I hope the understood my playful intent! Even true mathematicians can make simple mistakes in math. Likewise, even true grammarians can make simple mistakes in grammar. I only made note because of the subject of the thread (An English teacher who was having trouble passing a required math test).

In the thread, I mentioned that I could give a quick-fix lesson on how to determine whether one should use the pronoun "who" or the pronoun "whom."

The Rule:
WHO = SUBJECTIVE
WHOM = OBJECTIVE
or...
While "who" holds the grammatical position of a SUBJECT, "whom" holds the grammatical position of an OBJECT.
Subject = the "doer." Object = the DIRECT OBJECT or the INDIRECT OBJECT or the OBJECT of a preposition...the "do-ee."

THE TRICK:

IF replacing the who/whom in question with HE--simply because it SOUNDS BETTER--use WHO.

IF replacing the who/whom in question with HIM--simply because it SOUNDS BETTER--use WHOM.

IE:
With the question:

To who/whom should I give the "Offed by a Clinton" Award?

Try replacing the space with each, "he" and "him."
Although it's not totally "sensical," the better sounding choice is...

To HIM should I give...

(more clearly, Should I give the "Offed by a Clinton" award to HIM?
SOOOOOooooo...since "HIM" = "WHOM,"

the correct "who/whom-ness" of the question should be:

To WHOM should I give...?

IE:
Who/Whom was the oldest goat in the pool?

Try replacing the space with each, "he" and "him."

It makes much more sense to the ear to replace the who/whom with:

He was the oldest...

than with:

Him was the oldest...

SOOOOOoooooo....since "HE" = "WHO"...

The answer is...WHO was the oldest goat in the pool?

[Erasmus]

No. But I know the code for the Great lakes: HOMES.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.

Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Goes Willingly.

J JASON DJ FM AM

That is all.

[Polybius]

WHO = SUBJECTIVE
WHOM = OBJECTIVE

Subject = the "doer." Object = the "do-ee."

So, let me get this straight.

When referring to Monica Lewinski we should use "WHO" and when referring to Bill Clinton we should use "WHOM"?

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Its great to see this information on it's own thread. :-)

Yes, it's great to see this information on its own thread. : )

Ahem. : )

I wish to take this opportunity to remind people that there is no such word as "publically". (The word is "publicly".)

[Snerfling]

To that which shall be named as the most affected.

[Senator Pardek]

Louie Anderson.

[Rocky]

confusion of 'him and me' vs 'he and I.'

You have hit upon one of my pet peeves. Most of us, when we were growing up, were constantly corrected by parents and teachers to say "Joe and I" rather than "Joe and me". As adults, even people in the media say things like: "That was a surprise to Joe and I." (For those who never figured it out, remove "Joe and", and then see how it sounds: "That was a real surprise to I." Who talks like that?)

[Erasmus]

Now, Thinkin', that's muddying the waters with the indirect objective case, which maps completely onto the objective case in English, but not in German. (i.e., Dative <> Accusative).

[T'wit]

I remember a very early self-service gasoline chain in the Dip Suth named "HEP-UR-SEF."

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I never could keep that one straight. You're not alone.

[beckett]

Recently I have noticed some very good writers using "who" where "whom" should be according to the usual rules. Just yesterday Christopher Hitchens wrote something like (can't find the link) "he saw the fellow who he gave the money to" rather than "he saw the fellow to whom he gave the money."

Lots of people would like to see "whom" go the way of the dinosaurs, I think, and recently it seems editors are looking for ways to restrict usage of the word.

[plusone]

Rework the questions. 'Do you trust him" or 'Do you trust he'.

[Erasmus]

Isn't that supposed to be I before E except after C?

I was quoting Yankeedame there for another (characteristically inane) purpose, but yeah.

I once wrote a Snobol program which corrected text based on the rule "I before E except after C or when spoken as A as in neighbor, sleigh, aweigh, inveigh, ...."

[Emily RN]

Restructure your sentence to rephrase the question or make a statement. For example: Do you trust he? or Do you trust him?

[Rocky]

I remember that place. There was restaurant in back with a sign you could see from the highway that said, "Eat here and get gas."

[Revolting cat!]

A quick quiz:

"There are a lot" or "There is a lot"?

The Wall Street Journal editor seems to think the former (yesterday's WSJ.) And so, to be consistent, should we be saying "there is many"? Heck, I can do as well (as good?) Can I have a glamourous editor job too also?

[Freedom4US]

Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly.

That's the mnemonic to recall the standard Resistor Code in electronics - black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, gray, white. Kinda neat, huh.

[Anamensis]

Who do they remind you of?

That's a tricky one, but you nailed it! "Who" is doing the "reminding", not "you".

I disagree, "whom" goes with "them" and "him". "They remind you of whom? They remind you of him?"

[Revolting cat!]

Yeah,neat, but move to another country speaking a different language and you'll be blowing their fuses!

[gcruse]

I remember a very early self-service gasoline
 chain in the Dip Suth named "HEP-UR-SEF."

I remember driving past a house with attached garden patch in
North Carolina with a sign out front saying 'garden fresh pickles.'
Do they water the cucumbers with vinegar, you think?

[VermiciousKnid]

I learned it this way:

My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets.

BTW...does anybody else remember ROY G. BIV and Chief SohCahToa?

Regards,