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I know this question has been posed many times already, but I've had several people (some even professional editors) who cannot decide on the correct form in this sentence.

Three men, one demon, one minority—on a quest to kill the guy who/whom Domino’s parents love more than him.

Please tell me which is correct. Who or whom?

I myself am unsure (regardless of other answers) in this situation, because a few people and both my developmental and copy editor have differing opinions, so I have no idea which one is right, since both have their own opinions and arguments for this. One editor says "who" is correct here because the person in question is the subject in this sentence (although I'm not sure whether they are right or wrong about that), but the other editor said I need to follow the "he/him" rule. Thus, I don't know which rule to follow.

Klara Raškaj
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  • @RubioRic Like I said, I know this question has already been asked many times, but I am desparate for help for my specific example. Again, I've had several people (including professional editors) give me different answers, and am hoping someone here could help. – Klara Raškaj May 29 '18 at 14:23
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    Choose "who", it is never wrong. It's not an exam question, so you don't have to feel desperate. Please explain why the answers on the older question do not help. – Mari-Lou A May 29 '18 at 14:28
  • @Mari-LouA They don't answer my question because I myself am unsure (regardless of other answers) in this situation, because a few people and both my developmental and copy editor have differing opinions, so I have no idea which one is right, since both have their own opinions and arguments for this. One editor says "who" is correct here because the person in question is the subjective in this sentence, but the other editor said I need to follow the "he/him" rule. So how am I supposed to know which is correct if both people in this very profession can't decide amongst themselves? – Klara Raškaj May 29 '18 at 14:32
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    Did you read the answers in the older question, the one that I linked to? The problem is the same, how to identify the subject and/or the object. Your comment needs to go *in* the question. People often don't read comments, they focus their attention on the question, and if the person asking shows any understanding of the problem. If neither is present in the question, it will get closed. Trust me on this, there have been hundreds of questions about "who" vs "whom". – Mari-Lou A May 29 '18 at 14:36
  • Who is the person Domino's parent love more than him? Who is "him"? – Mari-Lou A May 29 '18 at 14:42
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    @Klara This question is exactly like all the previous ones. There is no difference. The fact that professional editors cannot agree on it doesn’t change the fact that all you need to do is find whether who[m] is the subject or not in the relative clause where it appears. I can tell you that the editor who told you that who[m] here is the subject in the relative clause doesn’t know his grammar: the subject is Domino’s parents. But applying John Lawler’s answer to your sentence would have enabled you to discover this for yourself. – Janus Bahs Jacquet May 29 '18 at 14:44
  • @JanusBahsJacquet Please understand, I had already applied the techniques and myself thought "whom" was correct, but wouldn't you also get insecure and uncertain about your own answer if a professional editor told you you were incorrect? – Klara Raškaj May 29 '18 at 14:47
  • @Klara Only if he were able to demonstrate how applying the proper techniques was not correct and give a convincing argument why he is right. Professional editors are people too (I should know—I am one), and they make mistakes and mess up their grammar just like everyone else. – Janus Bahs Jacquet May 29 '18 at 14:49
  • @JanusBahsJacquet I asked them for clarification, and she gave me what sounded to me (a non-editor) like a good argument. So, how was I to know whether I (the non-editor) was right, and the editor had made a mistake? I don't remember the exact words she used, as we've talked about this a little while ago, but she was very determined in convincing me that the who/whom part of this sentence was the subject, and not the object. Although, now that I think about it, I think she might have confused which pronoun went with which clause. – Klara Raškaj May 29 '18 at 14:56
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    I think she probably did, yes. If one editor tells you it’s the subject and the other tells you it’s the object, the best thing to do would be to pit them against each other and see which one manages to convince the other. That’s still not certain to be the correct answer, but it’s at least more likely to be so! – Janus Bahs Jacquet May 29 '18 at 14:59
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    The relativized element is object of "love", so traditionally objective "whom" would be correct. But due to a general dumbing down of the English language, subjective "who" is acceptable and probably the most commonly-used case nowadays. – BillJ May 29 '18 at 15:00

1 Answers1

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The accepted answer in the linked duplicate advises to switch who with he and whom with him, then rearrange the words. The sentence that makes sense wins.

Domino's parents love him more than him/he

So whom wins

loonquawl
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    But would you ever use "whom" in the same sentence as "guy"? I wouldn't use "guy", but the people who would wouldn't use whom. – David May 29 '18 at 19:10
  • ...and let's be clear, on SE an accepted answer means "accepted by the poster". It does not necessarily mean "correct". – David May 29 '18 at 19:13