[Grammar] "I need a friend with whom to talk." This "sounds" right to me.

[itsjaylee]

Hi people! I'm kinda wondering about this little grammar question I was asked of by a student yesterday and it's bugged me for while now. Let me cut to the chase.

We're on relative pronouns. We got to "Whom" and here's where it doesn't quite make sense:

1. I need a friend with whom to talk.
2. I need a friend whom to talk with.

The first one sounds somewhat right, but I'd like a more detailed explanation as to why if it is. The second one, however, doesn't sound like something I could ever use.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my problem and please let me know what's going on!

Btw, this is my first time here! If there's a little something wrong with the way I did this post, please let me know, too! The reviews of this place were quite awesome, so I'm probably gonna be sticking around for a while!

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: "I need a friend with whom to talk." This "sounds" right to me.

I would say 'I need a friend to talk with', but I am not a teacher.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: "I need a friend with whom to talk." This "sounds" right to me.

Welcome to the forum, itsjaylee.

Don't use non-words like 'kinda' and 'gonna' or texting abbreviations like 'Btw'.

Sentence #1 is grammatically correct but very formal.

In British English, I'd say 'I need a friend to talk to'.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: "I need a friend with whom to talk." This "sounds" right to me.

2. I need a friend whom to talk with.

It may be very formal but is it grammatical to replace 'to' with 'I can'?

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: "I need a friend with whom to talk." This "sounds" right to me.

Yes.