When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People

To whom are you returning these roses? (You are

returning the roses to him.)
I want the people who did this to step forward. (They
did this.)
Now heres a tricky correct example that even who/
whom whizzes can get confused:
Shell marry the man who she thinks has the finest
collection of ties.
The she thinks gives a lot of people fits here: It may
seem as if the pronoun should be the object of thinks and that
therefore we need whom. But the pronoun is actually the
subject of has, which becomes clear when we apply the m
test. You wouldnt say She thinks him has the finest collec-
tion of ties, instead, youd say, She thinks he has the finest
collection of ties. No m, so we need who. Many sen-
tences follow a similar pattern when they include an extra clause
reporting what people believe, think, or say.
Sheila, who I believe has the largest collection of
fountain pens in North America, always writes letters
on her computer.
My blind date, who youd said would be interesting,
proved to be just that.

4. Whoever vs. Whomever

Dont Say: Give the tickets to whomever can use them.

Say Instead: Give the tickets to whoever can use them.

Heres Why: You may have been tempted to say whom-

ever here, because it may seem to be the object of to. But
actually the object of to is the whole final clause whoever
can use them. Within that clause, the pronoun is the subject of
the verb can, so the subjective case is required, and thats
whoever.
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