Download Exercise 25-1

Exercise 25-1
a. The roundtable featured several scholars who I had never heard of.
b. Arriving late for rehearsal, we had no idea who was supposed to dance
with whom.
c. Whom did you support in the last presidential election?
d. Daniel always gives a holiday donation to whomever needs it most.
e. So many singers came to the audition that Natalia had trouble deciding
who to select for the choir.
1. My cousin Sylvie, who I am teaching to fly a kite, watches us every time
we compete.
2. Who decided to research the history of Hungarians in New Brunswick?
3. According to the Greek myth, the Sphinx devoured those who could not
answer her riddles.
4. The people who ordered their medications from Canada were retirees
whom don’t have health insurance.
5. Who did the committee select?
FYI: The grammar check in Word found two errors in the use of who,
whom, whoever, and whomever in the preceding ten sentences.
Suggested answers
a. The roundtable featured several scholars whom I had never heard of.
Whom is the object of the preposition of. Substitute in your mind, “I had
never heard of whom(or him).”
b. We had no idea who had shot whom. This is correct, as “who” is the
subject of the verb “had shot,” and “whom” is the direct object.
c. Whom did you support in the last presidential election? This is also
correct, as “Whom” is the direct object of “did support.” You can rephrase
the sentence to say “You did support whom (him)”
d. Daniel always gives a holiday donation to whoever needs it most.
“Whoever” is the subject of the verb”needs.”
e. So many of the candidates were overqualified that it was difficult to
decide whom to choose. “Whom” is the subject of the infinitive phrase “to
choose,”—remember that subjects of infinitives are always in the objective
case.
1. My cousin Sylvie, whom I am teaching to fly a kite, watches us every
time we compete. You would rearrange this to say “I am teaching him…so
the choice would be whom.
2. Who decided to research the history of Hungarians in New Brunswick?
Correct. “Who” is the subject of “decided.”
3. According to the Greek myth, the Sphinx devoured those who could not
answer her riddles. Those is the subject of the subordinate clause “those
who could not answer her riddles” and who is the subject complement.
4. The people who ordered their medications from Canada were retirees
who don’t have health insurance. In both places, “who” is the subject of a
verb, “ordered” and “do have.” So who is the choice in both places.
5. Whom did the committee select? Rearrange the sentence in S-V-O order
and you have, “The committee did select (him), which makes whom the
correct choice.