Zeno's Bar & Grill
Monday, May 22, 2006
Me Do Real Good
In an attempt to fill in the gaps in my grammar knowledge, I’ve signed up for a free on-line Grammar Fitness course at Barnes and Noble. It was worth the price of the class to finally have learned the proper use of “who” vs. “whom.” If you’re like me and want a quick and dirty way to decide which is correct without needing to figure out if you’re dealing with a subjective clause, or direct object, or (gasp) an appositive, then I have just the thing.
Simply rework the sentence to substitute “she” for “who” and “her” for “whom” in your sentence. For example:
The children were tossing spit balls until they noticed the principal, whom they saw walking in the hall.
They saw her.
This is the cook, who I said was nuts.
He is nuts.
To whom it may concern, (it concerns her) this is Kelly signing off.
Simply rework the sentence to substitute “she” for “who” and “her” for “whom” in your sentence. For example:
The children were tossing spit balls until they noticed the principal, whom they saw walking in the hall.
They saw her.
This is the cook, who I said was nuts.
He is nuts.
To whom it may concern, (it concerns her) this is Kelly signing off.
