Who vs Whom

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Uva@90: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 490; Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:30 amFollowed by: 5 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 83 times

by Uva@90 » Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:19 am

Hi All,
I find difficulty in identifying which to use when in he below sentence,

The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes have committed crime.
and
The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes to be bad.

Please help me with above, and also to what does 'it' in the sentence refers to ?

Thanks in advance,

Regards,
Uva.

Known is a drop Unknown is an Ocean

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:19 am

Patrick_GMATFix: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1052; Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 1:30 amFollowed by: 98 members; Thanked: 335 times

by Patrick_GMATFix » Sun Jan 19, 2014 11:01 am

"who" is only used as the subject of a verb ("who ate my cheese"). Otherwise, "whom" is used.

In cases where you can replace who/whom with he/him or they/them, use that trick to help you. "The people to whom I spoke" is correct since I would say "I spoke to them", not "I spoke to they".

When this trick is not easily used, identify the active verbs in the sentence, and figure out their subjects. If who/whom is a subject, use "who". Otherwise use "whom"

The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes have committed crimes.

The active verbs are "is catching" (subject "Police"), "believes" (subject "it"), and "have committed" (subject "who/whom"). "who" is appropriate because it is used as a subject.

The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes to be bad.

The active verbs are "is catching" (subject "Police"), and "believes" (subject "it"). Note that "to be" is not an active verb (it is not in an verb tense, but rather in the base infinitive form) so it does not have a subject. "whom" is appropriate because it is not used as a subject.

Finally, to find out what "it" refers to, just think about the story the author of the sentence is trying to tell. In writing "it believes", what does the author mean? Who believes that the robbers have committed crimes? Who believes that the robbers are bad? The antecedent is "The Police"

Hope that helps,
-Patrick

Check out my site: GMATFix.com

To prep my students I use this tool >> (screenshots, video)

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Uva@90: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 490; Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:30 amFollowed by: 5 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 83 times

by Uva@90 » Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:37 pm

Patrick_GMATFix wrote:"who" is only used as the subject of a verb ("who ate my cheese"). Otherwise, "whom" is used.

In cases where you can replace who/whom with he/him or they/them, use that trick to help you. "The people to whom I spoke" is correct since I would say "I spoke to them", not "I spoke to they".

When this trick is not easily used, identify the active verbs in the sentence, and figure out their subjects. If who/whom is a subject, use "who". Otherwise use "whom"

The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes have committed crimes.
The active verbs are "is catching" (subject "Police"), "believes" (subject "it"), and "have committed" (subject "who/whom"). "who" is appropriate because it is used as a subject.

The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes to be bad.

The active verbs are "is catching" (subject "Police"), and "believes" (subject "it"). Note that "to be" is not an active verb (it is not in an verb tense, but rather in the base infinitive form) so it does not have a subject. "whom" is appropriate because it is not used as a subject.

Finally, to find out what "it" refers to, just think about the story the author of the sentence is trying to tell. In writing "it believes", what does the author mean? Who believes that the robbers have committed crimes? Who believes that the robbers are bad? The antecedent is "The Police"

Hope that helps,
-Patrick

Hi Patrick,
Thanks for you reply,
I find difficulty in about what does the sentence talks about.

In the first sentence,

it believes have committed crimes.

This sentence is talking about the Subject- Police Hence we use WHO. I totally agree with this.

But, in second sentence,

it believes to be bad.

Even it also talks about police only right?(whom Police considers to be bad)

Please help me where I am going wrong.

Regards,
Uva.

Known is a drop Unknown is an Ocean

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Patrick_GMATFix: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1052; Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 1:30 amFollowed by: 98 members; Thanked: 335 times

by Patrick_GMATFix » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:09 am

Notice that in explaining how to pick between "who" and "whom" in your sentences, I did not mention what "it" referred to. The antecedent of "it" has nothing to do with whether we use "who" or "whom".

It's true that "it" refers to "Police", which is a subject (of "is catching"), but that is irrelevant. To pick from who/whom, you need to determine whether the pronoun who/whom itself is a subject.

In the first sentence: "The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes have committed crimes", "who" itself is subject of "have committed".

A simple version of the sentence might say: "The Police is catching robbers who have committed crimes". "who" is subject of "have committed".

In the 2nd sentence: "The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes to be bad", who/whom is not subject to any verb, so "whom" should be used.

Again, it's a mistake to consider what "it" refers to in trying to decide between "who" and "whom". If replacing "who/whom" with "he/him" or "they/them" identify the active verbs and their subjects; if who/whom itself is a subject, use "who". Otherwise use "whom".

-Patrick

Check out my site: GMATFix.com

To prep my students I use this tool >> (screenshots, video)

Ask me about tutoring.

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Uva@90: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 490; Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:30 amFollowed by: 5 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 83 times

by Uva@90 » Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:31 am

Patrick_GMATFix wrote:Notice that in explaining how to pick between "who" and "whom" in your sentences, I did not mention what "it" referred to. The antecedent of "it" has nothing to do with whether we use "who" or "whom".

It's true that "it" refers to "Police", which is a subject (of "is catching"), but that is irrelevant. To pick from who/whom, you need to determine whether the pronoun who/whom itself is a subject.

In the first sentence: "The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes have committed crimes", "who" itself is subject of "have committed".

A simple version of the sentence might say: "The Police is catching robbers who have committed crimes". "who" is subject of "have committed".

In the 2nd sentence: "The Police is catching the robbers who/whom it believes to be bad", who/whom is not subject to any verb, so "whom" should be used.

Again, it's a mistake to consider what "it" refers to in trying to decide between "who" and "whom". If replacing "who/whom" with "he/him" or "they/them" identify the active verbs and their subjects; if who/whom itself is a subject, use "who". Otherwise use "whom".

-Patrick

Patrick,
Thanks a bundle..

You explained soo clearly.

Regards,
Uva.

Known is a drop Unknown is an Ocean

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