0:00:00.000,0:00:01.154 - [Voiceover] Hello grammarians. 0:00:01.154,0:00:05.219 Welcome to one the thorniest[br]fights in English usage today. 0:00:05.219,0:00:06.844 The question of whether[br]or not you should use 0:00:06.844,0:00:10.761 who or whom in a sentence[br]as a relative pronoun. 0:00:10.761,0:00:14.431 So there's this basic idea[br]that who is the subject form, 0:00:14.431,0:00:16.590 and whom is the object form. 0:00:16.590,0:00:18.182 Which means that if we're talking about 0:00:18.182,0:00:21.862 someone who is the doer, then we say who. 0:00:21.862,0:00:24.126 As in, the spy who loved me. 0:00:24.126,0:00:26.986 As opposed to someone who[br]is the doee, the object. 0:00:26.986,0:00:29.579 As in, the spy whom I loved. 0:00:29.579,0:00:32.098 You see, cause in this[br]sentence, who is the subject. 0:00:32.098,0:00:34.351 And in this sentence, I is the subject. 0:00:34.351,0:00:35.837 Me is the object. 0:00:35.837,0:00:37.137 And whom is the object. 0:00:37.137,0:00:39.250 I loved whom? 0:00:39.250,0:00:41.038 In this sentence, I am doing the loving. 0:00:41.038,0:00:45.042 In this sentence it is the[br]spy who is doing the loving. 0:00:46.352,0:00:48.703 That's the basic rule. 0:00:48.703,0:00:51.043 But, this does not adequately reflect 0:00:51.043,0:00:52.958 the way our culture actually uses 0:00:52.958,0:00:56.383 and has used whom or who for some time. 0:00:56.383,0:00:59.344 In many cases it has become permissible 0:00:59.344,0:01:02.855 to use who as an object. 0:01:02.855,0:01:04.858 Let me show you what I mean. 0:01:04.858,0:01:05.950 So the thing to remember 0:01:05.950,0:01:08.956 is that the basic rule[br]is a one way street. 0:01:08.956,0:01:11.035 Because the way language is changing, 0:01:11.035,0:01:13.694 whom is on its way out. 0:01:13.694,0:01:18.675 I imagine in another 50, 75[br]years we won't be using it all. 0:01:18.675,0:01:19.812 Is that sad? 0:01:19.812,0:01:21.252 Sure, a little bit. 0:01:21.252,0:01:24.756 I mean I'm sad that nobody[br]every uses the pronoun whoso. 0:01:24.756,0:01:29.619 As in, whoso pulleth this[br]sword from this stone, 0:01:29.619,0:01:32.606 is rightwise born king of England. 0:01:32.606,0:01:33.814 We don't use that anymore. 0:01:33.814,0:01:35.509 It's old fashioned. 0:01:35.509,0:01:37.784 Now we say, whoever. 0:01:37.784,0:01:41.048 And that's ok. 0:01:41.048,0:01:42.127 So we know that the basic rule 0:01:42.127,0:01:44.147 is that you use who as a subject 0:01:44.147,0:01:46.027 and whom as an object. 0:01:46.027,0:01:49.406 Well you can also now[br]use who as an object. 0:01:49.406,0:01:53.313 The only thing you can't do[br]is whom is not a subject. 0:01:56.443,0:01:57.950 That's the thing you need to remember, 0:01:57.950,0:02:00.552 is that whom's use is not expanding. 0:02:00.552,0:02:01.852 It is contracting. 0:02:01.852,0:02:04.824 Who is taking over some of whom's duties. 0:02:04.824,0:02:08.470 So let's go back to that spy example. 0:02:08.470,0:02:11.152 So here are the four[br]possible options, right? 0:02:11.152,0:02:13.010 The spy who loved me, 0:02:13.010,0:02:14.831 the spy whom loved me, 0:02:14.831,0:02:16.586 the spy who I loved, 0:02:16.586,0:02:18.512 and the spy whom I loved. 0:02:18.512,0:02:23.029 Now of these, only this one is incorrect. 0:02:23.029,0:02:26.326 Because we're trying to[br]use whom as a subject. 0:02:26.326,0:02:28.230 But here, the spy who I loved, 0:02:28.230,0:02:29.983 where who is being an object, 0:02:29.983,0:02:33.885 by the informal rules of our[br]grammar today, this is fine. 0:02:33.885,0:02:36.786 Either of these is fine. 0:02:36.786,0:02:40.710 The only one that's not[br]fine is this guy right here. 0:02:40.710,0:02:42.765 The spy whom loved me. 0:02:42.765,0:02:45.831 Because this language change[br]is going in one direction. 0:02:45.831,0:02:50.324 And it's in the direction of[br]whom being used less often. 0:02:50.324,0:02:53.087 So whom never expands from[br]its original position. 0:02:53.087,0:02:54.932 Who does. 0:02:54.932,0:02:57.232 So the next time you're[br]puzzling over what to do 0:02:57.232,0:03:00.249 in the event of the sentence[br]who are you talking to, 0:03:00.249,0:03:02.131 and whether or not this pronoun here 0:03:02.131,0:03:05.184 should be who or whom, 0:03:05.184,0:03:08.772 it's really an issue of tone[br]rather than correctness. 0:03:08.772,0:03:13.277 Because both possibilies[br]are equally understandable. 0:03:13.277,0:03:15.819 Yes, technically if you[br]wanted to be very correct 0:03:15.819,0:03:20.637 you would say whom are you talking to, 0:03:20.637,0:03:24.854 or you are talking to whom, 0:03:24.854,0:03:27.231 because whom is the object[br]of this preposition. 0:03:27.231,0:03:30.747 It's to whom, and so therefore[br]we would use the object form. 0:03:30.747,0:03:34.248 But you find that when you[br]separate it out in this question, 0:03:34.248,0:03:36.673 when you put the to at the end, 0:03:36.673,0:03:39.229 and the whom question[br]particle at the beginning, 0:03:39.229,0:03:41.191 this m just kind of falls away. 0:03:41.191,0:03:43.628 Cause we're more likely to use whom 0:03:43.628,0:03:47.008 when it's immediately[br]preceded by a preposition. 0:03:47.008,0:03:51.547 But otherwise, it's probably[br]more likely gonna be who. 0:03:51.547,0:03:54.032 Which is why it's not[br]that big of a deal to say 0:03:54.032,0:03:55.553 who are you talking to. 0:03:55.553,0:03:56.865 It's not technically correct, 0:03:56.865,0:04:00.510 but it's been used for[br]so long that it's fine. 0:04:00.510,0:04:02.309 You are talking to who 0:04:02.309,0:04:06.292 is a little bit more[br]formal of a construction, 0:04:06.292,0:04:09.868 and therefore you would[br]probably want to use whom. 0:04:09.868,0:04:14.591 Saying you are talking[br]to who is not as common. 0:04:14.591,0:04:17.691 So in this wild swamp of rule breaking 0:04:17.691,0:04:20.828 there is one hard grammar[br]rule to pay attention to. 0:04:20.828,0:04:24.693 And it's just never use whom as a subject. 0:04:24.693,0:04:28.628 The role of whom in our[br]constellation of pronouns 0:04:28.628,0:04:31.149 is decreasing, not expanding. 0:04:31.149,0:04:33.808 Who is taking over whom. 0:04:33.808,0:04:35.572 And since who is the subject, 0:04:35.572,0:04:38.172 whom is not moving into that space. 0:04:38.172,0:04:40.066 Whom is the object pronoun, 0:04:40.066,0:04:43.271 and you use it when you're feeling fancy. 0:04:43.271,0:04:44.767 You can learn anything. 0:04:44.767,0:04:45.817 David out.