Who or Whom?

[image error]  Instant Quiz 

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

We surprised Grandma with a cake, presents, and a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

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Take a look at this sentence from an article in the New Yorker: “A couple of weeks after that, a woman in California called the police on three black women whom she thought were behaving suspiciously.”

No, no, no! “Who she thought were behaving suspiciously.” Here’s how you know: substitute he for who, him for whom. (If that sounds like the song “Tea for Two,” I’m right there with you.)

So: “She thought he was behaving suspiciously” “She thought who was behaving suspiciously.” And: “who she thought was behaving suspiciously.”

The New Yorker is meticulously edited. Their writers are the best of the best. If even they can’t figure out how to use whom correctly, I’d say it’s time to let it go.

Whom doesn’t add any clarity to a sentence. It confuses even excellent writers. Begone!

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                                    Whooom?

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

In the US, periods and always go inside quotation marks. There are no exceptions. (The UK does it differently.)

I often get arguments about this rule, and my response is always the same: show me an American publication that doesn’t do quotation marks this way. A week later there’s always a sheepish apology.

Incidentally, there’s a reason for capitalizing Grandma: in this sentence, it’s her name. If you were talking about “our grandma,” you’d use lower case.

We surprised Grandma with a cake, presents, and a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.”  CORRECT

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What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

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