Do you know the man who/ whom you met yesterday and other. Please help me.

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Are these two sentences right?

  1. Do you know the man who/ whom you met yesterday?

  2. He ate all the fruits although they were green.

1 Like
2

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Tuyet:

The who / whom problem is difficult for native speakers, too.

I think that many (most?) native speakers would use “who” in your sentence.

And they would be “wrong” – if you want to write English according to the “rules.”

The answer is “whom.” As I said, however, many well-educated people would simply use “who.” One reason is that it is easier to pronounce “who” than “whom” in your sentence.

Whenever you have a question, it is easier to analyze it if you put it into “regular” order. (Of course, when you speak or write, you do NOT use the “regular” order.)

Let’s put it into regular order:

You do know the man you met whom yesterday?

“Whom” is the answer because it is the OBJECT of the verb “met.” Therefore, you need the OBJECTIVE form of “who.”

James

2 Likes
3

As James said, ‘who’ would be the most natural usage these days… your 2nd sentence is possible.

2 Likes
4

James M, Beeesneees, we learn from EFL/ESL Grammar books that
whom is more formal than who when it is the object of the verb in the relative clauses (like the sentence above).

  i.e.,

(a) Do you know the man WHOM you met yesterday? (more formal)
(b) Do you know the man WHO you met yesterday?   (less formal/more informal)
 
    Is it right?

    Thanks.

  P.S. Teachers and participants, just take a look at (pay attention to) the post number of mine. It's beautiful number, isn't it? :-)
1 Like
5

You are right, Foreigner.

Do you know the man WHOM you met yesterday? > Do you know the man? + You met him yesterday. > The relative pronoun needs to be ‘whom’ in order to do justice to ‘him’.

2 Likes
6

‘Whom’ is so formal that it is TOO formal for most occasions, other than exams.

2 Likes
7

Many thanks all,

I have one more question, please help me.

  1. We have been/ are friends for a long time.
2 Likes
8

We have been friends for a long time. (If you are still friends.)
We were friends for a long time. (If you are no longer friends.)

2 Likes
9

One comment on the ‘who/whom’ - informal/formal - correct/incorrect - natural/unnatural - most speakers and so on and so on? What I say is: Rhubarb, rhubarb. Of course in the sentence quoted ‘who’ is incorrect if you decide to use the blessed relative. If we are talking about what people actually say, then they leave it out!

Do you know the man you met yesterday?

Happy New Year.

Alan

2 Likes
10

What about ‘The Man’ in the sentence…is it correct…?

2 Likes
11

‘Who’ denotes subject whereas ‘whom’ denotes object.

2 Likes