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I’d like all of you to please consider the following sentence:

It must be him with whom you enjoy doing your assignments, not me.

I have known that after 'to be' verb pronouns words take the subjective form. For example:

It is he who was absent yesterday.

So, can I say that the first sentence is erroneous? Would it be correct to write

It must be he with whom you enjoy doing your assignments, not I.

tchrist
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Deepan Das
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3 Answers3

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Oh for gosh sakes, call off the Pied Piper already! You just really just want:

It must be him you enjoy doing your assignments with, not me.

Anything else is overkill in varying degrees. If you’re just dying to stick a whom in there to pair with your him, put it here:

It must be him whom you most enjoy working with, not me.

But even with that one it’s getting awfully stuff in here, and as for the pied-piping you proposed, all those funny with-businesses are very unnatural.

As for “correct”, I don’t know what that means. Certainly you can find people who will say anything, and both those ugly forms can probably be dug out of a large enough set of specimina. But I’ve told you what I would say, and what I think you should say, too.

As for the rest, remember that in English, the pronoun’s objective case is normally the default case, even when copulae are involved, and sometimes other places, too.

“Correctness” you’ll have to ask a kindergarten teacher, who is more likely to be interested in that sort of normative language instruction.

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tchrist
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  • In question form, however, you could say without too much stuffiness, "With whom do you enjoy doing your assignments: him or me?" Agreed? – rhetorician Sep 06 '13 at 19:58
  • You have not answered his question. Also, I agree that there is a less 'stuffy' way to say it, but both of your ideas are incorrect. You ended your relative clause with a preposition. Also, I disagree that the study of grammar is useful only to kindergarten teachers. What about linguists? Translators? – ShadowCat7 Sep 06 '13 at 23:35
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    @ShadowCat7 There's nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition. And what part of the question wasn't answered? He directly addressed the he/him issue, with links. – Bradd Szonye Sep 07 '13 at 00:18
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The correct usage is It must be he with whom you enjoy doing your assignments, not I.

To understand why, split the sentence up. There are two parts, the main clause: It must be he, not I., and the relative clause: with whom you enjoy doing your assignments.

The main clause uses an intransitive verb (be), which means the pronouns he and I are not in the objective case. Therefore, both he and I are the correct pronouns to use.

ShadowCat7
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  • Not everyone agrees that “It must be he” is correct. While some prescriptivists insist on things like “It is I,” very few people actually talk that way. – Bradd Szonye Sep 07 '13 at 00:19
  • Let's define our terms, please. Just because few people actually speak that way does not mean people agree that it is not correct. My answer describes what an English professor will tell you. – ShadowCat7 Sep 07 '13 at 00:25
  • I think you might find a couple of English professors around here who would disagree. – Bradd Szonye Sep 07 '13 at 00:30
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    The original question regards 'correctness'. While I would never say Juliet, with whom Romeo fell in love, I would certainly write that in a paper. I assumed the original question to be about that kind of standard. – ShadowCat7 Sep 07 '13 at 00:35
  • And not everyone agrees with that standard. Some people believe that it's a misapplication of Latin grammar, like the rule against split infinitives. For example, see: http://english.stackexchange.com/a/4082/42788 – Bradd Szonye Sep 07 '13 at 00:39
  • @ShadowCat7 “An English professor”? Really? We have one of those here you know, and I seem to recall he has spoken to this issue: I don’t think you’ll be happy about what he’s said either. I think you have a mistaken notion about actual academics; see this comment. – tchrist Sep 07 '13 at 00:56
  • The people who disagree are choosing commonly spoken English over a more consistent rule. It is entirely inconsistent to say that it is equally valid to reply to Who answered the phone? with Me. or I answered it.. I can understand why someone might disagree, as what is commonly spoken has shaped languages in the past. We no longer live in the past, however, and can easily standardize English to be consistent and, therefore, easier to use. – ShadowCat7 Sep 07 '13 at 01:01
  • @tchrist Let me be more clear: My answer describes what MY English professors have told me. – ShadowCat7 Sep 07 '13 at 01:03
  • @ShadowCat7 Here’s what another of your academic linguists has to say. Do I really have to go over to Language Log to show you that all reputable linguists consider this pure poppycock? – tchrist Sep 07 '13 at 01:06
  • @tchrist You can do that, but you better understand that that is not EVERY reputable linguist. REGARDLESS, that answer (Me is correct) is inconsistent. Do we really want English to evolve in such a way that it becomes even more inconsistent? – ShadowCat7 Sep 07 '13 at 01:10
  • @ShadowCat7 Arnold Zwicky:“putting aside some well-known complexities like coordinate subjects and also putting aside a slew of normative prescriptions, the basic rule for nominative/accusative choice in English is: nominative for subjects of finite clauses, accusative otherwise. This rule has to be understood literally: only subjects of finite clauses; things understood,or interpreted, as subjects of such clauses don't count. So free-standing pronouns are accusative,even when they're interpreted as subjects: Who did that? Me.” – tchrist Sep 07 '13 at 01:14
  • @tchrist You are extending these comments longer than they should go by repeating the same thing without answering my questions. It would also be nice if your quote were just a link. – ShadowCat7 Sep 07 '13 at 01:18
  • @ShadowCat7 I’ve answered every question that deserves an answer. That stuff about consistency and wanting and evolution is not among them. – tchrist Sep 07 '13 at 01:20
  • @tchrist Then you should specify which questions do not deserve an answer and why. – ShadowCat7 Sep 07 '13 at 01:24
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    @ShadowCat: 'Just because few people actually speak that way does not mean people agree that it is not correct.' Myth: Expressions like "It was me" and "She was taller than him" are incorrect; the correct forms are "It was I" & "She was taller than he."_ Pullum responds: The forms with nominative pronouns sound ridiculously stuffy today. In present-day English, the copular verb takes accusative pronoun complements and so does "than." My advice: If someone knocks at your door, and you say "Who's there?" and what you hear in response is "It is I," don't let them in. It's no one you want to know. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 07 '13 at 09:39
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Yes, the sentence " It must be him with whom you enjoy doing your assignments, not me " is correct.

Also, you can write the sentence like this :

It must be he with whom you enjoy doing your assignments, not I. I think this sentence is more appropriate than the first one.

When pronoun is added after the verb, it becomes the object Both are correct as in first sentence, where you have used object form of both the pronouns ( him, me) and in second sentence : you have used subject form of the pronouns (he, I )

Another way, in which you can write this sentence is : I think he's the one with whom you enjoy doing assignments not me.

Please refer this link for details : http://eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/POS/pos6.htm

Sweet72
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