Using Who and Whom correctly

Using Pronouns correctly in Elliptical Clauses

Perhaps the most troublesome pronouns in the language are who and whom. To choose the correct pronoun for a sentence, you must remember the case.

WHO is nominative. WHOM is objective.

CASE PRONOUN USE IN SENTENCE

Nominative WHO Subject or Predicate Nominative

Objective WHOMDirect Object or Object of the Preposition

Possessive WHOSE To show ownership

Note about whose.

Do not confuse the possessive pronoun whose with the contraction who’s, meaning who is.

Possessive pronoun

Whose hat is this?

Contraction

Who’s the person in charge here?

The nominative case is used for subjects and predicate nominatives.

Use Who for the subject of the verb.

Examples:

1. Who won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for poetry?

2. Who will be the group leader?

Be sure to follow this rule when the pronoun is the subject of a subordinate clause.

Examples:

I wonder who wrote this article?

Carlos is the guide who conducted the tour.

Louis is the one who invited us.

Both examples are complex sentences: each has a main clause and a subordinate clause. Who is used because it is the subject of the subordinate clause.

I did not know who left the roses.

To see if the case of pronoun is correct , first isolate the subordinate clause. Then determine the pronoun’s use in the clause. Since the pronoun in the example acting as the subject of the verb left, the nominative who is correct.

Subordinate Clause

who left the roses

Use of pronoun: subject

Case: Nominative

Use Who for predicate nominative

Example:

The winner was who?

Be sure to follow this rule when the pronoun is the predicate nominative of a subordinate clause.

Example:

No one knew who the winner was?

Subordinate clause: Who the winner was

Reworded: the winner was who

Use of pronoun: Predicate nominative

Case for predicate nominatives: Nominative

The Objective Case WHOM

The objective case whom is used for direct objects and objects of prepositions.

Use Whom for the direct object of the verb.

Example

Whom did she ask to the dance?

The objective case is also used when the pronoun acts as a direct object of a subordinate clause.

Example:

I asked him whom he was taking to the dance.

Subordinate clause:

whom he was taking to the dance

Reworded: He was taking whom to the dance.

Use of Pronoun: Direct Object

Case for direct objects: Objective

Use whom for the object of preposition

Examples:

With whom were you speaking?

Whom were you speaking with?

In both of the given examples whom is the object of the preposition with.

Be sure to follow this rule when the pronoun is a part of a subordinate clause.

Examples:

We met the writer about whom we had read so much.

Marie thanked the police officer whom she had gotten directions from.

Subordinate clause:

whom she had gotten directions from

Reworded: She had gotten directions from whom

Use of Pronoun: Object of preposition

Case for direct objects: Objective

Checking case in subordinate clauses with parenthetical expressions. Parenthetical expressions such as we believe, I suppose, or experts say do not affect the case of a pronoun when they appear within a subordinate clause.

Examples

He is the one who, experts say will win.

He is the one whom, experts say, the voters want.

Exercise A Using who and whom correctly in questions. Choose the correct pronoun in each sentence.

1. From (who, whom) did you buy that basketball?

2. (Who, Whom) is your best friend?

3. (Whose, Who’s) camera are we using tonight?

4. (Who, Whom) did you expect?

5. The committee selected (who, whom)?

6. (Who, Whom) knows how to use the copying machine?

7. With (who, whom) have you agreed to work on the project?

8. (Whose, Who’s) the choice of the committee?

9. (Who, Whom) will you invite for the party?

10. (Who, Whom) spoke to you at lunch?

Exercise B Write the subordinate clause of the following sentence. Then indicate how who or whom is used.

We applauded the man who rescued the cat.

who rescued the cat. – (Subject)

1. He knows whom he want.

2. They gave free tickets to the man who came there first.

3. My mother could not imagine who would phone that late.

4. Later he told us who was responsible.

5. The teacher congratulated the students who passed.

Elliptical Clauses are clauses in which some of the words are omitted yet understood. To shorten the comparison, for example some words in the subordinate clause may be left out. Sometimes only a pronoun may be stated. In choosing the case of the pronoun, mentally complete the rest of the clause.

In elliptical clauses beginning with than or as, use form of the pronoun that you would use if the clause were fully stated.

WORDS LEFT OUT AFTER PRONOUN:

He is as tall as she.

He is as tall as she [is].

WORDS LEFT OUT BEFORE PRONOUN

She gave us fewer chores than them.

She gave us fewer chores than [she gave] them.

When selecting a pronoun for elliptical clause, begin by mentally completing the clause. If the words left out would normally come after the pronoun, use a nominative pronoun because it will be the subject of the understood verb. If the words left out before the pronoun, use an objective pronoun because it will be the direct object of the understood verb or the object of the preposition.

STEPS FOR CHOOSING A PRONOUN IN ELLIPTICAL CLAUSES

1. Consider the pronouns you have to choose from.

2.Mentally complete the elliptical clause.3. Make your choice based on the complete

elliptical clause.

Exercise C Identifying the correct pronoun in Elliptical clauses.

1. She is as short as (I, me)2. She writes better than (I, me).3. Beth has more experience than (I,

me)4. He feels that he is as skilled as (she,

her)5. He was more seriously injured than

(she, her)

6. My brother is advanced in chemistry as (she, her)

7. Helen can type as fast as (I, me)8. Mrs. Pratt gave me a higher grade than

(he, him)9. I worked longer last night than (he,

him)10. Find out if he earned more money

than (she, her)