I enjoy writing, but a word I never choose to use in my writing is "whom". The reason I never choose this is because I am not sure if I am using it correctly. I decided I wanted to look more into this word and see if there are some tips and tricks I can find to help me in my quest to learn how to correctly use the word "whom".
I once again used June Casagrande's book Grammar Snobs are Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite. She covers a lot of ground in her small paperback book, and I found that I am learning a lot by referencing it.
Casagrande writes in her book that many language authorities say that using the word "whom" is only required in formal speech and writing. As I wrote about in my short paper, language and grammar is always evolving and changing, and in the case of "whom" it may be true. But I would still like to know how to use it, and when I should use it. I love language! I'm an English major though and through.
I learned a very handy tip from Casagrande's book.
"Who" is a subject, "whom" is an object.
Who, I, he, she, they, we = subjects
Whom, me, him, her, them us = objects
If I'm ever wondering if I am using "who" or "whom" correctly, I can plug in one of of the above pronouns.
For example:
Who/whom cooked this delicious fish?
In this case I would say "who", because the answer to the question is:
He cooked it! (Not "him" cooked it).
Another example:
To who/whom did you give that sweater?
In this case I would say "whom" because the answer to the question is:
I gave it to him! (I wouldn't say "I gave it to he").
This is something so simple, I can't believe I didn't know it already! It's a very handy tool that I can use anytime I am wondering if I should use the word "whom" instead of "who". In my future career as a high school English teacher, I hope to pass this knowledge along to my students.
In the same token, I would also want to remind my students that using "whom" does not convey an idea more clearly than using the word "who", and it isn't going to make them sound smarter, especially if it is not used correctly.
However, if they use the above tips that I just learned, they shouldn't have that problem!
References
Casagrande, June. Grammar Snobs Are Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite. Penguin Books, 2006.
2 comments:
Is this a good book? I've been looking for something to use in class.
I think it's a good book. It has been very helpful to me in this class. I checked it out from my local library. It's a small paperback with 42 pretty short, but informative, chapters. I think it would be great to use for a grammar class.
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