PLEASE explain how to use “who” and “whom”. Are the sentences correct?

1. Whom are they waiting for?

2. Whom do you I saw when I opened the door?

3. Whom are they referring to?

4. Whom do you think you are? – Lim Hian

“Who” is the subject pronoun and “whom” is the object pronoun. However, in modern British English, “who” is more frequently used as both subject and object pronouns, except after a preposition, and in formal speech or writing.

1. “Whom are they waiting for?” is correct, but too formal. “Whom” here is the object of the preposition “for”. “Who are they waiting for?” is more commonly used.

2. Your second sentence is ungrammatical. Did you mean “Whom did I see when I opened the door?” Here, “whom” is the object of the verb “see”. It is, however, more common to say “Who did I see when I opened the door?”

3. This question is similar in structure to question 1. Although “Whom are they referring to?” is correct, it is too formal. “Who are they referring to?” is more often used.

4. “Who do you think you are?” is the correct sentence, because “who” is the complement, not the object of the verb “are” (a form of the verb “be”).

There are well-known expressions, however, which use “whom” rather than who, but “whom” in these expressions come after prepositions, e.g. “To Whom It May Concern” written at the top of a reference for a job or scholarship, and “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, originally written by John Donne for a sermon in the 17th century and used by Ernest Hemingway in the 20th century as the title of one of his novels.

Among and over

1. What is the difference between “among” and “over”?

2. Which sentence/s is/are true?

a. Who are you talking to?

b. Whom are you talking to?

c. To who are you talking?

d. To whom are you talking? – Nash Aziz

1. This is a very broad question, since each of these two words, especially “over”, has a lot of meanings. Let me give you links to three free online dictionaries that give the definitions of these words:

oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/

(online Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

dictionary.cambridge.org/

(online Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

ldoceonline.com

(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

2. Do you mean which sentences are correct?

Sentences a.b. and d. are correct.

As I just wrote in answer to another reader, “who” is the subject pronoun and “whom” is the object pronoun. However, in modern British English, “who” is more frequently used as both subject and object pronouns, except after a preposition, and in formal speech or writing.

Sentence a. “Who are you talking to?” is the most commonly used form of the question, although “who” is an object of the preposition “to”. Sentences b. and d. are both grammatically correct but too formal. Sentence c. is ungrammatical, since we don’t use “who” after a preposition.

Please also refer to my answers to Lim Hian above.

More to ‘since’

In one of your columns, you say:

We don’t say “It was five years since he had died”, but “It has been five years since he died.”

But there’s this example in the Longman dictionary (ldoceonline.com/dictionary/since):

“It was exactly five years since her father had died.” – Jacky Khor

Thank you, Jacky, for pointing out my error in answering the last question from Yu Siong which appeared in MOE on June 30.

Actually, I should have told him that the definition of the word “since” (as a conjunction of time) in the grammar book he mentioned is not complete. The online Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary has a fuller definition, which is:

“(used with the present perfect, past perfect or simple present tense in the main clause) from an event in the past until a later past event, or until now”.

Even this definition does not cover all uses of “since” as a conjunction of time. There is no mention of what tense the clause beginning with “since” (the since-clause) should use. It could in fact use the simple past, the present perfect, or the past perfect tense. The main clause could also be in the simple past tense. The full definition should then read:

“(used with the present perfect, past perfect, simple present or simple past tense in the main clause and the simple past, the present perfect, or the past perfect tense in the since-clause) from an event in the past until a later past event or time, or until now”.

Yu Siong’s sentence, “It was five years since he had died.”, like the sentence from the online Longman Dictionary (“It was exactly five years since her father had died.”) uses the simple past tense (“was”) in the main clause and the past perfect tense (“had died”) in the since-clause. This structure is used not when relating the past to the present, but in a narration of the past, that looks back to an earlier past, for example:

“She looked at the date on her mobile phone and suddenly remembered. It was exactly five years since her father had died.”

Here are some examples of the use of different combinations of tenses in the two clauses:

“It had been 19 years since he taught modern languages at his old school...” (past perfect tense in the main clause with simple past tense in the since-clause; news.scotsman.com/friendsreunited/The-law-closes-in-on.2337931.jp)

“Yesterday it was exactly 100 years since Manet’s Olympia was acquired for the French nation ...” (simple past tense in the main clause with simple past tense [passive] in the since-clause; (andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/readArticle/780 (from The Independent, Nov 3, 1990)

“I’ve been very busy since I came back from holiday.” (present perfect tense in the main clause with simple past tense in the since-clause)

From the online Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

“It’s twenty years since I’ve seen her.” (simple present tense in the main clause with present perfect tense in the since-clause)

From the online Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

“How long is it since we last went to the theatre?” (simple present tense in the main clause with simple past tense in the since-clause)

From the online Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

The since-clause could also come before the main clause:

“Since he left there has been much speculation he might return to cabinet if cleared.” (simple past tense in the since-clause with present perfect tense in the main clause; bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11806638?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter, BBC News, Nov 21, 2010)

Already is enough

Recently, I used a sentence in a conversation with my friend, which goes “As if I weren’t already am”.

The sentence was used in the situation where I was telling her that I am already her friend, and in that current situation, it seemed like I wasn’t.

My friend saw the sentence, and we had a debate on the accuracy of its usage. Is there anything wrong with it? Thanks. – Jeremiah

Yes. You don’t need the “am” at the end. You have already used the “be” verb in “weren’t”, and you don’t need another one. “Weren’t” is all right instead of “wasn’t”, though a little formal. Instead of using “am” at the end, you could write: “As if I weren’t already your friend!”

• Survey: Britons love tea more than coffee
• New York City relies on automation technologies to face challenges of urbanisation
• Oil palm firms team up with Sabah to protect Malua Forest Reserve
• Powering the Big Apple
• Build robust cities
• Fun with words
• Rail marvel in New York
• Fun with synonyms
• Carnegie Hall gets green facelift
• Win The Good Food Cook Book!

Latest Jobs from Star-Jobs