Thursday, August 29, 2013
He/Him, Who/Whom, Who Cares?
The other day I stood for not being too high-hat and literal by saying "i.e." when the English translation "that is" will do the job easily and plainly. I have another on myself.
Last May 26th and 27th I posed the question how best to say "It's (he or him) (who or whom) you can't understand" and told why the choice should be "he" in the first instance and"whom" in the second; you need a subject after an "is" verb, hence "he," and "whom" would be the object of the verb understand. So "It's he whom you can't understand."
Following the guidance of several sources that take a common sense approach on such conundrums--look for a way to AVOID such conundrums...like..."He's the one you can't understand." Bravo!
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often times, I find myself with a bit confusion as to which pronoun to use ... and then, out of my pea brain comes the gilded voice of Don... and I say, to myself "of course, don said this..." and the problem is then easily solved.
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