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Trouble here. Is it correct to use 'whom' in this case? Thanks!

"By submitting assignments accurately and in a timely manner, I gained professors’ trust, whom then granted me more advanced theoretical tasks."

FisherInfo
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    Totally incorrect, sorry. Whom may not be used as the subject of the relative clause it introduces. This is why I always advise people -- native and non-native speakers alike -- never to use whom. Never. Until you get at least one degree in linguistics; otherwise you won't be able to understand the rule. – John Lawler Aug 19 '14 at 01:00
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    @JohnLawler Plus as the old saw goes, even if you learn to use it correctly, whom would you ever be able to use it on? I tire of explaining the rule and then realizing that they still don’t understand what I tell them, so I just give up and tell them to stop using it altogether—as you advise. Even the after-a-preposition thing fails for things like Give it to whoever wants it. Graduate work in linguistics may have let me understand it, but that helps no one but me. It’s too hard to get them to properly parse the sentence so they know the right form of the pronoun whose case they’re abusing. – tchrist Aug 19 '14 at 01:28
  • @JohnLawler That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it? If you understand the difference between a subject and an object (I/me, we/us, he/him, they/them), surely the difference between who and whom will pose no threat. – Anonym Aug 19 '14 at 01:29
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    @Anonym You. Would. Be. Astonished. – tchrist Aug 19 '14 at 01:29
  • Since I am on a mission to civilize, I never tire of explaining it. It's not that bad; at least we don't have a third one for a dative clause. Imagine explaining that to people. –  Aug 19 '14 at 02:25
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    @tchrist, Anonym is right in that it doesn't take a linguistics degree to understand the rules for who and whom. – Jasper Locke Aug 20 '14 at 04:55

1 Answers1

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As simple as it sounds, it requires mastery of the English language to use whom in the right situation. In fact, if at all possible, always try to rephrase your sentence to use 'who' instead of 'whom'.

In your sentence, unfortunately, even if 'whom' was correct, it would be referring to professors' trust as the object and not the intended porfessors'

The best way of writing this sentence:

"As a result of gaining my professors' trust by submitting assignments accurately, and in a timely manner, my professors granted me more advanced theoretical tasks."

The correct way of writing this sentence using who:

"My professors gained trust in me as a result of my timely and accurate submissions, who then granted me more advanced theoretical tasks."

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