Sentence Correction, Third Edition, Modifiers Topic Question

[vattipulusu]

Hi,

I have a question in the Modifiers Topic in Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction book. In page 105, 106, you have explained about the usage of relative pronouns in the context of modifiers. I have couple of questions on the usage of "who vs whom" and usage of "that vs whom"

Below are the two sentences given in the book:

Wrong: The security guard who we met was nice.
Right: The security guard whom we met was nice.

Its explained that who is used as the subject of the verb in a relative clause and whom is used as the object of the verb in the relative clause, in the above example, does "we" acts as subject, there by making "whom" as correct choice? Please explain.

Also, in page 106, you have mentioned that, "that or whom can be dropped when the modified noun is the object of the modifying clause"

Example given:
Right:The movie that we watched last friday was scary
Right: the movie we watched last friday was scary.

In the above example does "we" acts as the subject making the the movie as object?

I am little unsure about subject vs object, I did some research about that topic and trying that in this context. I would appreciate any help on this.

Thanks,
M.K

[Ben Ku]

Below are the two sentences given in the book:

Wrong: The security guard who we met was nice.
Right: The security guard whom we met was nice.

Its explained that who is used as the subject of the verb in a relative clause and whom is used as the object of the verb in the relative clause, in the above example, does "we" acts as subject, there by making "whom" as correct choice? Please explain.

First, about subject and object pronouns. The subject is the thing/person doing the action; the object is the recipient of the action.

He bought flowers for her.

Here, "he" is the subject, because "he" bought the flowers. "Her" is the object, because the flowers were bought for "her." We use different pronouns for the subject and object.

Subject Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, they, who
Object Pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, them, whom

It's sometimes hard to remember whether "who" or "whom" is the subject or object pronoun. One trick is to substitute it with "he" or "him." If "he" makes sense, then use "who"; if "him" makes sense, then use "whom."

Usually, the sentence is written in the order: Subject - Verb - Object. However, in modifying clauses, the word order is frequently swapped. What I typically do is isolate the modifying clause, and then rearrange the words to make sense. That will help me find the subject and object.

In the sentence you pointed out:
The security guard whom we met was nice.

Here, "whom we met" is the modifying clause. It's hard to tell whether it should be "who" or "whom" because we don't know if it's the subject or object. So let's rearrange it to be "we met him" (I used "him" instead of "whom" to tell if it should be subject or object). Here, because "him" makes sense, then we know that we should use the object pronoun "whom."

Also, in page 106, you have mentioned that, "that or whom can be dropped when the modified noun is the object of the modifying clause"

Example given:
Right:The movie that we watched last friday was scary
Right: the movie we watched last friday was scary.

In the above example does "we" acts as the subject making the the movie as object?

Again, "that we watched" is the modifying clause. We can rearrange it to be "we watched that." In this case, "that" is the object of the modifying clause, but refers to "the movie," which is the subject of the sentence. This example is used to illustrate that when the pronoun in the object of the modifying clause refers to the subject of the sentence, we can drop it.

I hope that makes sense.

[FelipeP951]

Hello,

From the book:

1a. Wrong: The security guard who we met was nice.
1b. Right: The security guard whom we met was nice.

2a. Wrong:The movie that we watched last friday was scary
2b. Right: The movie we watched last friday was scary.

I don't understand why "that" has to be dropped in the previous sentences but "whom" does not.

In other words, why is 1b correct in keeping "whom" and 2b is correct in dropping "that"? They seem to be exactly the same.

Thanks for any help.

[RonPurewal]

2a and 2b are both fine. this issue should be fixed in the current edition.
(the third-edition books are almost 10 years old; we're currently on the sixth edition.)

[RonPurewal]

... and "who" vs. "whom" is not tested on this exam.