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mrturbo311
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can you please provide an example sentence of each case?
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Who Example:

We all know who pulled the fire alarm.

"who" is correct here because this sentence has two clauses, "We all know" and "who pulled the fire alarm". In the second clause "who" is the subject. Or to make it clear replace "who" with "he". He pulled the fire alarm. That sentence is correct. To better make the point "whom" is an object prnoun so replace "who" in the original sentence with another object pronoun say "him". It is not correct to say "Him pulled the fire alarm" so use the subject form of who/whom, which is WHO.

Whom example:

"Whom are you going to marry?"

To see the reasoning behind this rework the sentence to read, "You are going to marry WHOM?. This shows that "whom" is the object of the sentence if this is still not clear replace "whom" with another object pronoun such as him, "You are going to marry HIM". Does that make sense? This was a tough concept for me to grasp also.
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thank you for your example, it's much easier to grasp the concept seeing it being explained.
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the trick w/ whether using who/whom is just to answer the sentence...

"Who/Whom runs that company" HE runs that company; since HE is the subject, you'll use WHO.

"Who/Whom will that man marry" That man will marry HER; since HER is the object, you'll use WHOM.

WHO = subject (the "do'er" of the sentence)
WHOM = object (the "receiver" ...)
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adalfu
the trick w/ whether using who/whom is just to answer the sentence...

"Who/Whom runs that company" HE runs that company; since HE is the subject, you'll use WHO.

"Who/Whom will that man marry" That man will marry HER; since HER is the object, you'll use WHOM.

WHO = subject (the "do'er" of the sentence)
WHOM = object (the "receiver" ...)


I love this explanation....exactly what I was looking for, thanks!



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Which of the following is correct?
1. Once debarred from public speaking, the German chancellor and dictator, Adolf Hitler, whom historians have noted had a hypnotic effect on large audiences, had to appoint Gregor Strasser to advance his political ambitions.
2. The German chancellor and dictator, Adolf Hitler, who historians have noted had a hypnotic effect on large audiences, was once debarred from public speaking, so he had to appoint Gregor Strasser to advance his political ambitions.

How do i ask the question in this case?
To whom have historians noted had a hypnotic effect..... ans- historians have noted him
OR
According to historians who had a hypnotic effect....... ans - He did

Please help. This is very confusing for me.
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sheenum
Which of the following is correct?
1. Once debarred from public speaking, the German chancellor and dictator, Adolf Hitler, whom historians have noted had a hypnotic effect on large audiences, had to appoint Gregor Strasser to advance his political ambitions.
2. The German chancellor and dictator, Adolf Hitler, who historians have noted had a hypnotic effect on large audiences, was once debarred from public speaking, so he had to appoint Gregor Strasser to advance his political ambitions.

How do i ask the question in this case?
To whom have historians noted had a hypnotic effect..... ans- historians have noted him
OR
According to historians who had a hypnotic effect....... ans - He did

Please help. This is very confusing for me.


Hi,
what I can make out of it is ..
To whom have historians noted had a hypnotic effect..... ans- historians have noted him
OR
According to historians who had a hypnotic effect....... ans - He did ....

the first Q does not make sense...
whatever the Q be, the answer will be ... historians have noted that he had....
use of word 'had' points that the pronoun will be who and not whom...
Once debarred from public speaking, the German chancellor and dictator, Adolf Hitler, whom/whohistorians have notedhad a hypnotic effect on large audiences, had to appoint Gregor Strasser to advance his political ambitions.
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The German chancellor and dictator, Adolf Hitler, who historians have noted had a hypnotic effect on large audiences, was once debarred from public speaking, so he had to appoint Gregor Strasser to advance his political ambitions.

Shouldn't this sentence be written as - The German chancellor and dictator, Adolf Hitler, who, historians have noted, had a hypnotic effect on large audiences, was once debarred from public speaking, so he had to appoint Gregor Strasser to advance his political ambitions. ?
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If the entity being talked about is functioning as the subject of the clause, we use who to refer it. We use whom to refer the entity if it has took a object position in the clause.

Eg- I interviewed a person who used to work in Google (here this "person" is the subject of the clause who...Google, hence we refer to using who)

Eg- I interviewed a person whom my manager knew personally ( here this "person" is the object in the clause and the subject is manager and verb associated is "knew")

Hope this helps.

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