who or whom in this context?

Question

I am unsure which is the grammatically correct one in the following context:

...trying to find a programmer with who / whom I could collaborate.

Which one is the correct usage?

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered May 13 '13 at 15:14

0

Technically, "with whom" is grammatically correct, but most native Anglophones would probably say this:

"I'm trying to find a programmer that I can collaborate with."

It avoids the "who/whom" problem and it's more natural English.

answered May 13 '13 at 15:14

Prepositions are never good words to end sentences with. – Sparr May 13 '13 at 15:37
Nonsense. They're frequently just what you want to finish up with. – John Lawler May 13 '13 at 15:44
The only situation in English grammar where whom is required is as the object of a preposition that immediately procedes it. As with does here. So with whom is grammatical, and *with who is ungrammatical. – John Lawler May 13 '13 at 15:49
@Sparr whether that is nonsense or not (it is), there's a dedicated question for that. Please stay on topic. Thank you. – RegDwigнt May 13 '13 at 15:51
But, as Bill points out, a relative pronoun like who(m) is ordinarily moved to the front of a relative clause, and if that relative pronoun turns out to be the object of a preposition like with, it's perfectly OK to strand with at the end of the clause, instead of going to the extra formal trouble of Pied-Piping it along with who(m) to the beginning of the clause.
But if you do go to all that trouble, you have to use whom to show how formal it is. – John Lawler May 13 '13 at 15:53
@RegDwighт John got the joke... – Sparr May 13 '13 at 16:00

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