“And an Incorrect “Whom”

The last post featured a comic about politics. This comic appeared on the same page as one in the last post, and it’s also about politics, but I’m all about the grammar, and this time the guy gets it wrong:

It should be “Whom do you have?” But you probably know that by now. (“You” is the subject; the object should be “whom.”)

I wonder whether the solecism was part of the commentary. Oops. I don’t make political statements.

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Normally I tend to avoid political stuff, concentrating on grammar and writing instead. My interest here is no exception. I like to point out any time someone uses “whom” correctly, politics or not. It’s in the third panel: 

“Whom” is the object of the separable verb “vote for” even though “whom” comes first. And objects take the objective case!

This sentence has an interesting ambiguity, by the way. The verb in question is an infinitive (to vote for) and the subject of an infinitive takes the objective case in English; hence, that “whom” here could be considered the subject of the verb!

A lightweight post today (after all, I mention this feature of English grammar rather often). Actually it’s whomever. But it’s correct!

You could even say the “whomever” is correct for two reasons:

1. The noun clause “whomever she wants” is the direct object of the main verb, “can date.”
2. “Whomever” itself is the direct object of the noun clause’s verb, “wants.”

The second reason is the real reason, by the way.

Why is the second reason the real one? The rule is this: you go from the inside out. Rule 2 describes what’s going on inside the clause, which is inside the sentence. 

Here’s a sentence with similar construction that uses “who” to begin a noun clause that’s a direct object, and it’s correct:

Detailed new risk maps show who should really flee a threatening storm.

Scientific American Oct 2018, page 1

“Who” is the subject of the verb “should flee,” inside the noun clause. The noun clause is the direct object of “show.”

This is from a news story about a traffic accident.

It was driven by 44-year-old Catina Isaacs, who state police said died in the crash.

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/traffic/2018/09/13/off-duty-dover-officer-sparked-fatal-five-car-crash-dover/1296270002/

If you read this blog with any regularity, you might expect me to say that “who” should be “whom,” but the sentence is correct!

Look for the verb. We have two of them, “said” and “died.” Now look for the subjects. “Police said” is obvious. Now what’s the subject of “died”? It’s “who died”! Not “whom died.” So the nominative form of the personal pronoun is correct.

My condolences to the family.

One of my favorite hobby horses—getting “whom” correct.

Subordinate clauses are stumbling blocks for a lot of people because these clauses often put the direct object first, where the subject usually goes. So the nominative form, “who” gets used, even though the actual subject is “you.”

Whenever you have a who/whom decision to make, first decide what is the verb, then look for the subject. Then decide whether the “who” word is the subject or the object. “Who” is a subject, “whom” is an object.