Maria looked

[Bassim]

Would you take a look at my sentences and correct my grammar and punctuation?

Maria looked his boss in the eye, on whose whim depended her career. She tried to stay calm, but inside she was trembling with nervousness.

I am wondering if it is also grammatically correct to say:
Maria looked in the eye of his boss, on whose whim depended her career.

 

[bhaisahab]

"Maria looked her boss in the eye. She tried to stay calm, but inside she was trembling with nervousness.
Her career depended on his whim."

 

[kilroy65]

I am wondering if it is also grammatically correct to say:
Maria looked in the eye of his boss, on whose whim depended her career.

"To look somebody in the eye" is a fixed expression. It means being sincere or showing no fear: "Look me in the eye and say goodbye!"

 

[Bassim]

kilroy65
I have used my sentence because I wanted to use "on whose whim depended..." But apparently my first sentence was not grammatically correct. In bhaisahab version "on his whim" comes as the third sentence, but that was not what I wanted from the beginning.

 

[GoesStation]

Would you take a look at my sentences and correct my grammar and punctuation?

Maria looked his boss in the eye, on whose whim depended her career.

Whose would refer to the eye in that sentence, not the boss.

 

[Bassim]

GoesStation,

Thank you for your advice,
I am wondering if my second version is wrong.
Maria looked in the eye of her boss, on whose whim depended her career.

 

[kilroy65]

Bassim, what I'm trying to say is that "to look someone in the eye" is different from "to look in the eye(s) of someone".

 

[Bassim]

kilroy65
Thank you for your advice. I did not know the difference. This is probably the reason why my first sentence is not correct.

 

[GoesStation]

GoesStation,

Thank you for your advice,
I am wondering if my second version is wrong.
Maria looked in the eye of her boss, on whose whim depended her career.

It's fine. The inversion in the second clause is unusual but not incorrect. More typical wording would be Maria looked in the eye of her boss, on whose whim her career depended.

 

[Bassim]

GoosStation,
Thank you for your version. Your sentence is the one I needed, but unfortunately I could not write it correctly myself. I do not know much about the rules of inversion and I have written it automatically. But maybe I should read more about "inversion" in my grammar books so that I do not repeat the same mistake.

 

[GoesStation]

It's not really a mistake, just a little uncommon in that case. Inversion is used less than it used to be, so it may appear a little old fashioned.