Re: Who or Whom?

[Dick Margulis <ampersandvirgule -at- WORLDNET -dot- ATT -dot- NET>]

Sorry to disappoint, Gilda, but your analysis is incorrect. The object
of the preposition to (and this from someone who is old enough to have
had to diagram sentences in high school, so I know I am correct in this)
is the _noun clause_, "whoever answers the door."  The subject of the
noun clause is the subjective pronoun _whoever_.



Ginsel, Gilda wrote:
>
> <<E.g., "Give the book to whomever answers the door." is
> wrong.  It should be "Give the book to whoever answers
> the door.">>
>
> Hmmmm......I think "whomever" is the correct word since the pronoun
> takes the objective case in this sentence.  It represents the person or
> thing that is affected by the action of the subject.  It also fits right
> in with the "use who for he, she, and they and use whom for him, her,
> and them" rule, since it can be recast as  "(You) Give the book to
> whomever (him, her, them) answers the door."   Try this...."me" is the
> objective form of the pronoun and "I" is the subjective form.  You would
> say "Give the book to me"  not ''Give the book to I."
> But I also agree with the earlier poster that the formality of what you
> are writing has a bearing on deciding to use "whom" instead of "who".
>
> Gilda
>