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"The problem is who can we get to replace her" vs. "The problem is who we can get to replace her" Which one is correct and why?

Masoud
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    They mean different things (after appropriate punctuation is added). What do you want it to mean? – Peter Shor Jun 15 '15 at 15:14
  • So do you mean that they are both correct with two different meanings? I only can think of one meaning for this sentence: that we have a problem and our problem is that we are wondering if we have anyone to replace her. I want to know the type of word order that is needed here. – Masoud Jun 15 '15 at 16:40
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    The first one is the wording you want, but it needs a question mark at the end and a colon before who. The second one might be interpreted as: you know who the possibilities for the replacement are, but they are all problems. – Peter Shor Jun 15 '15 at 19:49
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    I very much doubt that anyone would misunderstand the second sentence as you describe, and I think that formulation is much more common. In the situation you describe, I think the speaker would be much more clear and just say "None of the candidates for her replacement are going to work."

    That said, just saying "The problem is going to be finding someone to replace her," is much simpler and really means the same thing as what I believe OP is trying to say.

    Also, to be super correct, you need to use "whom."

     – user124384 Jul 03 '15 at 04:17
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    Consider: "The problem is that we don't know* who we can get to replace her."* – F.E. Jul 26 '15 at 15:29

1 Answers1

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Neither is correct. It should be:

The problem is: whom can we get to replace her?

or better yet:

The problem is finding someone to replace her.

Channel Islander
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