Usage of whom

[gauravgundal]

The Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia,
were sighted in 1770 by the English navigator Captain
James Cook, by whom they were named supposedly
because its sheer wet rocks glistened like glass.

(B) by whom they were named supposedly and their

(D) who so named them supposedly because their


Answer is D

Sorry for removing the answer choice A,C and E. I don't want our people to concentrate on other choices.

I agree with the answer,but just have one doubt regarding choice B.
I crossed B because of conjunction 'and'. This structure changes the meaning.
But my question is about the part of the sentence '' by whom they were named supposedly "
I think this is right
Reasons ;
1. Use whom when it follows a preposition.<---- read in some book
2. if we phrase the sentence as (they were named supposedly by him (whom) / they were named supposedly by he (who)) .so I feel that the bold part is correct 'by whom'.

Am I right in the above analysis about the usage of whom?
Is the usage of 'and' in choice B the only reason to make it a wrong choice?

Experts please guide me with your valuable comments.

[Anju@Gurome]

The Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia,
were sighted in 1770 by the English navigator Captain
James Cook, by whom they were named supposedly
because its sheer wet rocks glistened like glass.

(B) by whom they were named supposedly and their

(D) who so named them supposedly because their


Answer is D

Sorry for removing the answer choice A,C and E. I don't want our people to concentrate on other choices.

I agree with the answer,but just have one doubt regarding choice B.
I crossed B because of conjunction 'and'. This structure changes the meaning.
But my question is about the part of the sentence '' by whom they were named supposedly "
I think this is right
Reasons ;
1. Use whom when it follows a preposition.<---- read in some book
2. if we phrase the sentence as (they were named supposedly by him (whom) / they were named supposedly by he (who)) .so I feel that the bold part is correct 'by whom'.

Am I right in the above analysis about the usage of whom?
Is the usage of 'and' in choice B the only reason to make it a wrong choice?

Experts please guide me with your valuable comments.

Hi, between options B & D above, you also need to consider the usage & position of the word "supposedly". Choice B suggests that the mountains were named 'supposedly' by James Cook, which is not correct....Supposedly means accepted as true without positive knowledge or assumed as true without an accurate fact. In this case, we know that James Cook did name the mountains.....what is "supposed" is the reason behind it. Hence - "..supposedly because their sheer wet rocks glistened.."

[Stuart@KaplanGMAT]

The Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia,
were sighted in 1770 by the English navigator Captain
James Cook, by whom they were named supposedly
because its sheer wet rocks glistened like glass.

(B) by whom they were named supposedly and their

(D) who so named them supposedly because their


Answer is D

Hi,

the usage of whom that you've suggested is correct, but, as Rishikesh points out, (B) has other serious issues.

If the sentence had simply ended "by whom they were supposedly named.", it would be grammatically correct (and the use of supposedly would imply that it's not certain that Cook named them).

[007.r.mason]

I would go with D as well.. mainly because of and

[vjcongmt]

The Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia,
were sighted in 1770 by the English navigator Captain
James Cook, by whom they were named supposedly
because its sheer wet rocks glistened like glass.

(B) by whom they were named supposedly and their

(D) who so named them supposedly because their


Answer is D

Hi,

the usage of whom that you've suggested is correct, but, as Rishikesh points out, (B) has other serious issues.

If the sentence had simply ended "by whom they were supposedly named.", it would be grammatically correct (and the use of supposedly would imply that it's not certain that Cook named them).

Hi Stuart,

but the whom here refers to the subject (James cook actually named the mountains, so as the doer of the action named, he is the subject of the relative clause) so in this case why is whom correct ?

[Stuart@KaplanGMAT]

Hi!

A great way to determine whether to use "whom" or "who" is to turn the sentence into a question and answer it with "he" or "him".

For example, for (B) we'd ask "by whom were the mountains named?" We'd answer: "they were named by HIM"; since we use "him", "whom" is correct.

For (D) we'd ask "who named them?" We'd answer: "HE did." Since we answer with "he", "who" is correct.

Anytime who/whom follows a preposition (of whom, by whom, for whom, on whom, against whom...), "whom" will be the correct usage.

The Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia,
were sighted in 1770 by the English navigator Captain
James Cook, by whom they were named supposedly
because its sheer wet rocks glistened like glass.

(B) by whom they were named supposedly and their

(D) who so named them supposedly because their


Answer is D

Hi,

the usage of whom that you've suggested is correct, but, as Rishikesh points out, (B) has other serious issues.

If the sentence had simply ended "by whom they were supposedly named.", it would be grammatically correct (and the use of supposedly would imply that it's not certain that Cook named them).

Hi Stuart,

but the whom here refers to the subject (James cook actually named the mountains, so as the doer of the action named, he is the subject of the relative clause) so in this case why is whom correct ?

[mmslf75]

Thanks !

Hi!

A great way to determine whether to use "whom" or "who" is to turn the sentence into a question and answer it with "he" or "him".

For example, for (B) we'd ask "by whom were the mountains named?" We'd answer: "they were named by HIM"; since we use "him", "whom" is correct.

For (D) we'd ask "who named them?" We'd answer: "HE did." Since we answer with "he", "who" is correct.

Anytime who/whom follows a preposition (of whom, by whom, for whom, on whom, against whom...), "whom" will be the correct usage.

The Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia,
were sighted in 1770 by the English navigator Captain
James Cook, by whom they were named supposedly
because its sheer wet rocks glistened like glass.

(B) by whom they were named supposedly and their

(D) who so named them supposedly because their


Answer is D

Hi,

the usage of whom that you've suggested is correct, but, as Rishikesh points out, (B) has other serious issues.

If the sentence had simply ended "by whom they were supposedly named.", it would be grammatically correct (and the use of supposedly would imply that it's not certain that Cook named them).

Hi Stuart,

but the whom here refers to the subject (James cook actually named the mountains, so as the doer of the action named, he is the subject of the relative clause) so in this case why is whom correct ?