celebrity

[Ju]

1) Does the word "celebrity" only stand for the famous person whom is still alive? (Is Michael Jackson still a celebrity now?")

2) Can we put are behind whom?
(eg The famous persons whom are still alive?)


Tks / ju

[MrPedantic]

Hello Ju,

Generally, only living people are "celebrities". You could probably say that people can only be classed as "celebrities" when their everyday existence and activities have become of particular interest to the general public; so death, as a largely inactive state, naturally tends to diminish celebrity.

Nonetheless, celebrities may have a long twilight, after their demise: in the case of Michael Jackson, for instance, medical disputes, the interest in his will, etc., have given him a kind of artificial afterlife.

As for your question, you could rephrase it thus (note that "whom" is wrong, since the relative pronoun is the subject of "are"):

1. Does the word "celebrity" only apply to famous people who are still alive?

Best wishes,

MrP

[Ju]

Could you give me examples for the difference in using who and whom ?

Tks / ju

[MrPedantic]

Hello Ju,

You can only use "whom" where the relative pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition. For example:

1. The person to whom I gave the book was Lithuanian.

— "whom" (the relative pronoun) is the object of the preposition "to".

2. Antonio, whom we interviewed on Thursday, was our preferred candidate.

— "whom" is the object of the verb "interviewed".

Here, on the other hand, "whom" would be wrong:

3. The person whom gave us the book was Lithuanian.

— the relative pronoun is the subject of the verb "gave"; thus "who" is required.

I should add that most native speakers tend not to use "whom" very often, even where "whom" would be possible, and use "who" instead. So most people would probably say this, instead of #2:

4. Antonio, who we interviewed on Thursday, was our preferred candidate.

(Thus while "who" is often used as the object of the verb, "whom" is always wrong as the subject of the verb.)

Best wishes,

MrP