April 24, 2006
who or whom
'Who' is a subject, 'whom' is an object. Easy way to know when to use 'who' versus 'whom:' replace with 'he' or 'him;' if the former works, it's 'who' and if it's the latter it's 'whom.'
"For whom the bell tolls" becomes "For him the bell tolls" (makes sense) while "For he the bell tolls" makes no sense.
"She gave the letter to who?" is incorrectly "She gave the letter to he" whereas "She gave the letter to whom?" becomes "She gave the letter to him?"
And remember "a number" is plural, while "the number" is singular.
Anybody wanna share some more cool off-the-cuff grammar rules?
(A random post, I know. This journal has been devoid of posts of real value lately. Here is my contribution for the month of April).
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boogiesan
boogiesan
reversible
reversible
pinklemonade
andrew (guest)
to NOT follow these rules is ok, especially now. something to chew ON :)
roy
congrats! where are you going to go?
pinklemonade
and yeah, it should be james's.
kahkulakee
I always didn't understand why people couldn't get "there" vs. "their" vs. "they're" right...
or...
"its" or "it's"
hapy
benwebber
Speaking of e.g.: e.g. is an abbreviation for <em>exempli gratia</em>, or "for the sake of example", and is thus used only when giving and example of something. <em>I.e.</em> stands for "id est", or "that is". I.e. is used to rephrase something.
Man I hate when people mix those up.
<em>US</em> or <em>U.S.</em> is an adjective for "pertaining to the USA"; when talking about the country, it is proper to use <em>USA</em> or <em>U.S.A.</em>.
reversible
pinklemonade
roy
but i guess that would get very confusing.
jihwan
"Either Jeff and I/me will kick your ass." Ignore Jeff for a second. "I will kick your ass" works, whereas "Me will kick your ass" doesn't. When in doubt over 'I' or 'Me' in a sentence, omit the other subject[s]. Foolproof.
A step further. I see way too many people who say, "The dog sat between Jeff and I." Now, they think they're being grammatically sophisticated by saying 'Jeff and I,' but they're completely incorrect. How to make sure? Use the tip from above. Omit Jeff. "The dog sat between I." or "The dog sat between me?" The latter is correct.
jihwan
hehe.