I am not very good at grammar and it is a major embarrassment for me. I have been trying to learn the basics of grammar and have with me several good books on grammar. But despite reading them several times I find that though I seem to perfectly understand all the rules at the time of reading, I find I am unable to recollect them whenever I need to.
In some books a grammar rule is explained with such a simple example it is difficult not to remember it. I found one such example in a common problem one encounters while writing, in a book called ‘Writing with Style’ by Sue Young that I had picked up sometime last month.
It was the rule about determining when to use ‘Who’ or ‘Whom’, one which I always find very confusing, and haven’t properly understood until I read ‘Writing with Style’ yesterday.
The author, Sue Young, explains that ‘Who’ is a subject pronoun whereas ‘Whom’ is an object pronoun. In order to determine which word- ‘Who’ or ‘Whom’- to use, she advises to
Substitute the subject pronoun he or she for who.
Substitute the object pronoun him or her for whom.
Young provides a simple example to illustrate it which I’m reproducing below.
Who or whom was yelling?
Substituting the words he or him would you say
He was yelling?
Or
Him was yelling?
Naturally, we would choose the word he. Therefore the sentence would be:
Who was yelling?
Another example :
I don’t care who said it.
Or
I don’t care whom said it.
We would say: He said it. Therefore, the correct sentence would be:
I don’t care who said it.
When to use ‘whom’ is a tricky question and below is the example to illustrate the use of ‘whom’:
I don’t know whom to tell.
Or
I don’t know who to tell.
We would say: Tell him. Therefore the correct sentence is :
I don’t know whom to tell.
Simply put, it is ‘who’ when it means ‘he’ or ‘she’ and
‘Whom’, when it means ‘him’ or ‘her’ in the sentence.
That was one grammar lesson I am unlikely to forget so quickly. There are numerous examples in the book which I am glad I bought and read. It is a sort of primer for writing but it is in such books that you find simple examples that clear confusing doubts.
It was the rule about determining when to use ‘Who’ or ‘Whom’, one which I always find very confusing, and haven’t properly understood until I read ‘Writing with Style’ yesterday.
The author, Sue Young, explains that ‘Who’ is a subject pronoun whereas ‘Whom’ is an object pronoun. In order to determine which word- ‘Who’ or ‘Whom’- to use, she advises to
Substitute the subject pronoun he or she for who.
Substitute the object pronoun him or her for whom.
Young provides a simple example to illustrate it which I’m reproducing below.
Who or whom was yelling?
Substituting the words he or him would you say
He was yelling?
Or
Him was yelling?
Naturally, we would choose the word he. Therefore the sentence would be:
Who was yelling?
Another example :
I don’t care who said it.
Or
I don’t care whom said it.
We would say: He said it. Therefore, the correct sentence would be:
I don’t care who said it.
When to use ‘whom’ is a tricky question and below is the example to illustrate the use of ‘whom’:
I don’t know whom to tell.
Or
I don’t know who to tell.
We would say: Tell him. Therefore the correct sentence is :
I don’t know whom to tell.
Simply put, it is ‘who’ when it means ‘he’ or ‘she’ and
‘Whom’, when it means ‘him’ or ‘her’ in the sentence.
That was one grammar lesson I am unlikely to forget so quickly. There are numerous examples in the book which I am glad I bought and read. It is a sort of primer for writing but it is in such books that you find simple examples that clear confusing doubts.
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