Hi Mariappan! Sorry for the late reply!
Here goes a mini-tutorial to help you: Subjects, Objects and Possessive Forms To understand how to use "who," "whom," and "whose," you first have to understand the difference between subjects, objects, and possessive forms. Subjects do an action: He loves movies. She goes to school. We enjoy Chinese food. Objects receive an action: The teachers like him. Thomas knows her. The actor smiled at us. Possessive forms tell us the person something belongs to: His bike is broken. I like her new book. The teacher graded our homework. "Who" is a Subject Pronoun "Who" is a subject pronoun like "he," "she" and "we" in the examples above. We use "who" to ask which person does an action or which person is a certain way. Examples: Who made the birthday cake? Who is in the kitchen? Who is going to do the dishes? "Whom" is an Object Pronoun "Whom" is an object pronoun like "him," "her" and "us." We use "whom" to ask which person receives an action. Examples: Whom are you going to invite? Whom did he blame for the accident? Whom did he hire to do the job? "Whose" is a Possessive Pronoun "Whose" is a possessive pronoun like "his," "her" and "our." We use "whose" to find out which person something belongs to. Examples: Whose camera is this? Whose dog is barking outside? Whose cell phone keeps ringing? "Who," "Whom" and "Whose" in Indirect Questions The sentence below contains an example of an indirect question: I don't know whom he invited. Such sentences usually start with a phrase such as: "I am not sure" or "He doesn't know" or "We don't care." Just ignore the first part of the sentence and look at the indirect question when deciding whether to use "who," "whom" or "whose." Ask yourself if the indirect question requires a subject, object, or possessive form. Examples: He doesn't know who the boss of the company is. subject of the indirect question I don't care whom you invite. object of the indirect question She isn't sure whose car that is. "Whose" shows possession of car. "Who," "Whom" and "Whose" in Adjective Clauses The sentence below contains an example of an adjective clause: I know the man who won the contest. Adjective clauses are used to describe a noun in the main sentence. In the example above, the adjective clause tells us about "the man." Just ignore the main sentence and look at the adjective clause when deciding whether to use "who," "whom" or "whose." Ask yourself if the adjective clause requires a subject, object, or possessive form. Examples: We knew the actress who starred in the movie. subject of adjective clause They hired the man whom we interviewed last week. object of adjective clause She knew the family whose house we bought. "Whose" shows possession of house. "Whom" Less Common The form "whom" is becoming less and less common in English. Many native English speakers think "whom" sounds outdated or strange. This trend is particularly common in the United States. Especially when combined with prepositions, most people prefer to use "who" as the object pronoun. To most native English speakers, the examples below sound quite natural. Examples: Who did you come to the party with? I don't know who he gave the book to. That is the woman who I was talking to. Who did you get that from? Do you have any idea who he sold his car to? That is the person who I got the information from. Regards Lil On Oct 13, 10:55 am, "mariappan balraj" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, If you consider the following sentence, > The man whom he most admires will be here tonight. > > Here "whom" is relative pronoun. > > "He most admires Raju". We can ask question like "who does he most > admires?". But "whom does he most admires?" is wrong. > > The confusion comes because in the given sentence "Raju" is object. So > I thought to replace with the relative pronoun used for the person in the > possessive case. But it is wrong. > > Best Regards > Mariappan > > On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 6:11 PM, mariappan balraj < > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hello Anu, Thanks Anu. But I am not able to figure out why > > those sentences are wrong. > > > Best Regards > > Mariappan > > > On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 3:33 PM, anurag barthwal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > > >> Hi Marriapan, > > >> Sorry for the delay. I'd asked Lilian to answer your questions, and I was > >> surprised when I saw that she didn't. > >> I was away, to my home-town for some time. > > >> 1) Whom shall I give this to? (*wrong*) > > >> 2) Whom do you believe did this? (*wrong*) > > >> 3) Whom are you speaking?(*wrong*) > >> Who are you speaking? (*wrong*) > > >> Who are you speaking to? (*correct*) > > >> 4) Whom do you think they are? (*wrong*) > > >> 5) What do you consider in the right? (*wrong*) > > >> 6) Whom, do you consider, is right? (*wrong*) > > >> 7) Whom did you speak to? (*wrong*) > > >> 8) Whom is that for? (*wrong*) > > >> Who is that for? (*wrong*) > > >> What is that for? (*correct*) > > >> [When you say, "What is that for?", there is an object you are seeing or > >> thinking about, and you want to know what it is for. > > >> For example : You enter your friend's workshop. You see a weird looking > >> tool there. As you are curious, you ask your friend, pointing towards the > >> tool, > > >> "What is that for?" ] > > >> 9) What did they fight each other for? > > >> [Suppose, 2 persons were fighting. The fight has ended now. You are > >> inquiring the eye witnesses, what they were fighting for. ] > >> 10) Whom am I speaking to, please? (*wrong*) > >> * > >> regards > >> anu*- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "English Learner's Cafe" group. 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