who and whom, which is right here?

[eddy143]

hi all, i wish to ask which is suitable in the sentences below:

1)____________ was the teacher mad at?

a) Whom b)who

2) The teacher was mad at the boy_________ was drawing a monster on the whiteboard before the teacher came in.

a)whom b)who

I think "who" is right for both number 1 and 2 questions.
thanks.

[5jj]

You are correct. Those who insist on using 'whom' when it is a direct object or object of a preposition would re-order #1 to the rather stuffy "At whom was the teacher mad?"

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=eddy143;818953]

1)____________ was the teacher mad at?



I think "who" is right for both number 1 and 2 questions.


NOT A TEACHER


(1) I most respectfully and humbly suggest that some teachers would say that

"whom" is the "correct" answer for No. 1. It is obvious that "whom" is the object of

the preposition "at": The teacher was mad at whom?

(2) As teacher 5jj told us, many (most?) native speakers would use "who," but on a

test, probably many (most?) teachers would expect "whom." And students do have to

please their teachers, don't they? I think that students in many countries need to get

the best marks possible on their examinations. In order to get high marks, they need

to follow the "rules" as taught in most grammar books.

[Tdol]

As a test question, 1 would be poor because both forms are correct, unless there's a c) Both option, or the teacher marks a) and b) correct. To test the difference, you would need to create cases where only one was a option or include a Both option.