Letters to the Editor
tblue
Published Letters: 19 Editor's Choice: 1
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Warning: Far more grammar than most of you want to know
[Read the article: "Sex and the City"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Lynneguist expresses dismay over the grammar in the following sentence excerpt:
. . . the financial wheeler-dealer formerly known only as Mr. Big (Chris Noth), whom we now know is named John, although no one calls him that.
who we now know is named John! Who!
('we now know _he_ is named John', not '_him_ is named John')"
Xrandadu Hutman finds the issue confusing:
Wow this is confusing. The question is, does "who/whom" refer to the verb "know" or the verb "is"?
If it's "Whom we know..." then it should be "whom."
If it's "Who is named," with "we now know" as a modifier, then it should be "who."
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You can get this straightened out by visiting my Grammar and Usage for the Non-Expert website:
http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/index.html
My articles "The Case for Pronouns" and "More on When to Use 'Who' or 'Whom'" can be found at http://grammartips.homestead.com/case.html and http://grammartips.homestead.com/who.html
In the sentence under discussion, the correct form is "who," because the pronoun is the subject of the clause who is named John. The entire clause, a noun clause, acts as the direct object of the verb "know."
Whenever a clause and a phrase compete to determine the case of a pronoun, the solution is easy: the clause is a more powerful grammatical structure, so it always wins. But when we have two clauses competing for the same pronoun, as in this case, the clause that the pronoun actually belongs to is the one that determines its case. The pronoun “who” is not the direct object of the verb “know”—the entire clause (who is named John) is.
Note: When an infinitive phrase in the direct object slot takes a subject, that subject will be in the objective case, since the phrase is weaker than the clause, and the clause wants the objective case: They wanted me to read them a story.
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I am severely hearing impaired, so a lot of the
[Read the article: Stop the noise!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]noise that bothers other people doesn't even register for me. I am famously even-tempered, and I have always assumed that is at least partly because I am not stressed out by the level of noise that others must deal with all the time.
I don't wear my hearing aids unless I am watching TV, teaching, or having a conversation, and even with my aids, I don't hear all that well. I live on a very busy street, and the traffic noise bothers my neighbors, but I have never heard it.
One year a college freshman moved into the house next door. He often had parties for a LOT of friends on weekend nights. Once he asked me if they were playing the music too loudly. I said I didn't know, since I couldn't hear it. I said they might be bothering our other neighbors, but I wasn't being bothered at all.
I live in a duplex, and for years I had a next door neighbor who did woodworking as a living. He ran his woodworking machines--in a room that was right next to my bedroom--at the wee hours of the morning all the time. But I never heard them, either. I am a very convenient neighbor for people with noisy habits.
Sometimes what others call a handicap can be a real blessing!
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Novak's victim was NOT jaywalking!
[Read the article: Hang up and drive]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]AJCalhoun,
The pedestrian Novak hit was in the crosswalk and had the right of way at the time. He was not jaywalking. Novak is famous for speeding and racking up tickets, though.
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Wes Clark would be an excellent VP choice for Obama, in all ways.
[Read the article: David Brooks calls Barack Obama a sojourner]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I can't understand why he has not been given serious consideration.
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Interesting that these are all imitations of WHITE babies--mostly blondes.
[Read the article: The creepiest video you will see all day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am guessing that these things appeal primarily to desperate mother-wannabes who can't find a blonde white infant to adopt (and who are unwilling to adopt a baby belonging to an ethnic minority).