Modifiers

[saurabhkhatri]

Hi,

Can you please help me understand which of the two is correct usage.

The team that we liked the most has lost.
OR
The team whom we liked the most has lost.

Manhattan SC says that 'that' cannot be used to modify people, but can it be used to modify collective pronouns as above?

OR in the case above usage of 'that' is permissible as team is not people and has been used as an essential modifier to identify the team being talked about.

Thanks a lot in advance.

[tim]

"team" is not necessarily people. in fact, even if it were comprised of people, the identity of the people would be subsumed under that of the collective noun..