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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006A Case of Who/Whom
In the following sentence: On June 26, 2006, Rowling revealed that at least two characters will die in the final book of the Harry Potter series, one of whom may be Harry himself. I can't decide if it should be 'who' or 'whom'. I tend to read the second clause as saying, "Harry may die," in which case it would seem to take the subjective case, but I'm doubting myself. Could someone with more experience help me think this through? FeelLikeA...@gmail.com wrote: > In the following sentence: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > to take the subjective case, but I'm doubting myself. Could someone > with more experience help me think this through? Irrespective of any grammatical analysis, "one of who may be Harry himself" sounds totally wrong to me. You could avoid the problem by saying "one of which..." > FeelLikeA...@gmail.com wrote: > > In the following sentence: [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > himself" sounds totally wrong to me. You could avoid the problem by > saying "one of which..." Though, if it in fact is 'whom' then there is no problem. I agree that your suggestion is a very good alternative, but I would still like to understand this case. >>FeelLikeA...@gmail.com wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > your suggestion is a very good alternative, but I would still like to > understand this case. "Whom" is always used after prepositions, even by people who don't normally use "whom".  SignatureRob Bannister > "Whom" is always used after prepositions, even by people who don't > normally use "whom". Not always. Only when the word is the object of that preposition. SignatureStefano "It all depends on who is doing the writing." >>"Whom" is always used after prepositions, even by people who don't >>normally use "whom". > > Not always. Only when the word is the object of that preposition. OK, although you're being very picky. I suppose I should also have added that it only applies when the pronoun directly follows the preposition as in: The man who(m) you were talking to The man to whom you were talking. Now I suppose you're come up with some post-substantive prepositions. SignatureRob Bannister > In the following sentence: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > to take the subjective case, but I'm doubting myself. Could someone > with more experience help me think this through? Whom. Compare "one of they" with "one of them". SignatureSkitt (in Hayward, California) http://www.geocities.com/opus731/ > > In the following sentence: > > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Skitt (in Hayward, California) > http://www.geocities.com/opus731/ Thanks, Skitt. Recasting it in that way certainly does clear it up. FeelLikeA...@gmail.com wrote: > > > In the following sentence: > > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Thanks, Skitt. Recasting it in that way certainly does clear it up. And thanks to everyone else who has now posted, too. > In the following sentence: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > second clause as saying, "Harry may die," in which case it would seem > to take the subjective case, but I'm doubting myself. Think of it this way: which would you say or write? . One of them may be Harry. . One of they may be Harry. For case analysis, a useful rule of thumb is to mentally recast the sentence; the result may not be sound English in itself, but usually makes the point clear: . Harry is one of who/whom. ( = Harry is one of them/they) More formally, in the adjectival prepositional phrase "of whom", "whom" is the object of the preposition "of", and, as such, takes the accusative (aka "subjective") case. > In the following sentence: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > to take the subjective case, but I'm doubting myself. Could someone > with more experience help me think this through? 'Of', 'by', 'with', or 'for' take 'whom'. > In the following sentence: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > to take the subjective case, but I'm doubting myself. Could someone > with more experience help me think this through? 'Of', 'by', 'with', 'to', or 'for' take 'whom'. >> In the following sentence: >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > 'Of', 'by', 'with', 'to', or 'for' take 'whom'. Incidentally, the sentence is clumsy. Since "one of whom..." relates to "characters" it seems odd to put it next to "series". "...at least two characters, one of whom may be Harry himself, will die..." would be better. Would it make the "who/whom" thing more obvious? Regards Jonathan |
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