But he should remember, taken from the people at great cost to them and their offsprings.
Indeed, who raided who?
Should it be “who raided whom” instead?
Thanks.
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But he should not forget that they were taken from the people at great cost to them and their descendants.
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Thanks, Torsten. Could you please reply to the other question: Who raided who?
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Him - Whom
These words sound similar so it’s an easy memory aid. If you would use the word him, then you should use the word whom.
Which sounds better?
He raided him
Him raided he
I went to the store with him.
I went to the store with he.
He went to the store.
Him went to the store.
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Also:
Who called you?
Whom did you call?
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That’s a tricky one. The memory aid doesn’t work well with that one. It’s really about the subject vs object in a sentence. In your second example the object comes before the subject, so it makes it a little odd.
“Whom” is the object of “call”. “Him” can be the object of “call” also, but not with the same word order as your example.
Also, “correct” is not what people actually use. Here’s an excerpt from Webster.
“Trust your instincts. The choice between who and whom can sometimes be confusing, and this has always been the case. But English is extremely flexible, and actual usage doesn’t always follow the strict rules of grammar. Our ears are our guides, and there are many constructions (like “Whom did you speak to?” vs. “Who did you speak to?”) in which whom may be technically correct but still feel fussy or unnatural. In these cases, it is perfectly standard to use who.”
Realistically, native speakers rarely use the word “whom” in any situation. It sounds stuffy.
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A: Whom did you call last night?
B: Well, I called my friend, but he didn’t answer because he was probably already asleep and had his phone on silent.
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Similar phrases are:
“Who killed who?”
“Who cheated who?”
This is a standard phrase for expressing uncertainty as to what actually happened.
There is a symmetry in these statements, asking “did A do it to B or did B do it to A?”If you follow the rule and use “whom”, you lose a bit of that symmetry. The two sides of the expression become a little different.
As for Torsten’s example:
I would definitely say “Who did you call last night?”
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Same here. People don’t use the word “whom”. If someone wants to pass an English test, they should learn the “proper” use of the word. If they want to speak like a native speaker they should forget the word exists.
It can be used poetically as a literary device, but not in daily language.
For Whom The Bell Tolls, by Hemmingway
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