WHO AND WHOM

[robin lee]

Hello

She is the woman (who/whom) I met at John's house.

I don't understand why one can use either who or whom in this sentence. thank you

 

[albertino]

Hello

She is the woman (who/whom) I met at John's house.

I don't understand why one can use either who or whom in this sentence. thank you

who - informal (spoken)
whom - formal (written)

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello

She is the woman (who/whom) I met at John's house.

I don't understand why one can use either who or whom in this sentence. thank you

Personally, I don't think you can. As far as I am concerned, whom only comes after a preposition, so I believe the sentence should be:

She is the woman who I met at John's house.

In order to use whom, I would suggest:

She is the woman to whom I was introduced at John's house.

 

[bhaisahab]

Personally, I don't think you can. As far as I am concerned, whom only comes after a preposition, so I believe the sentence should be:

She is the woman who I met at John's house.

In order to use whom, I would suggest:

She is the woman to whom I was introduced at John's house.

Traditionally, "whom" doesn't only come after a preposition but most people use it that way, if they use it at all.

 

[2006]

Traditionally, "whom" doesn't only come after a preposition....

I agree, and the bottom line is whether you need a subject or an object pronoun. (ignoring the question of whether "whom" is doomed or not)

 

[Tdol]

Hello

She is the woman (who/whom) I met at John's house.

I don't understand why one can use either who or whom in this sentence. thank you

The subject/object (who/whom) distinction is being eroded. Traditional grammars would say that whom is the correct choice for your sentence, but most speakers would use who. Except directly after a preposition or in very formal writing, who is fine for both subject and object.

 

[TheParser]

Hello

She is the woman (who/whom) I met at John's house.

I don't understand why one can use either who or whom in this sentence. thank you

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Good morning, Ms. Lee.

(1) May I give you my opinion?

(2) Please do use "whom," especially in written English.


(3) As you know, "who" is used as the subject: I know who did it. ("who" is subject of "did.")

(4) As you know, "whom" is used as the object: Whom do you live with? ("whom" is the object of the preposition "with.")

(5) Your sentence is basically two sentences:


(a) She is the woman. I met HER at the party.

(i) You would, of course, use "her" (objective form) -- object of the verb "met." Naturally, you would never say: I met she.

(6) So your sentence is really:

She is the woman (I met whom at John's party).

(a) Now put it in "correct" order:

She is the woman whom I met at John's party.

(7) As the other posters have so correctly told you, "whom" is often not used by native speakers.

(8) Nevertheless, I respectfully make two suggestions:

(a) It really is not that difficult to learn the "rule" (although there are some sentences that confuse even the experts).

(b) It would be well worth your time to learn the rule. It will give you much more confidence in your use of English.

Thank you.