Is this sentence correct? "Richard Nixon—whom Mazo claimed had lost the election because of the fraud—asked for the series to be terminated."

Question

Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

Richard Nixon—whom Mazo claimed had lost the election because of the fraud—asked for the series to be terminated.

I'm wondering whether it should be corrected to:

Richard Nixon—who Mazo claimed had lost the election because of the fraud—asked for the series to be terminated.

Does this answer your question? What’s the rule for using “who” and “whom” correctly? — Jason Bassford, May 08 '20 at 03:59
I think it's technically incorrect, but it sounds plausible because it sounds a bit like the object of "Mazo claimed". (Even though the real object is the proposition, something like "Richard Nixon has lost the election") — Steve Bennett, May 08 '20 at 04:02
I believe who is correct. Whom is not the object of this clause: **Mazo claimed had lost the election him* (incorrect). Who is the subject of the that-clause within: Mazo claimed [that] he* had lost the election*. — Tinfoil Hat, May 08 '20 at 13:49
@tchrist Yikes! Of course the pronoun is not object of "claimed" but the subject of the embedded "had lost ..." clause, so "who" is correct. My apologies — BillJ, May 08 '20 at 13:51

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 08 '20 at 17:15

Who—the subject pronoun—is correct.

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In order to determine whether the relative pronoun functions as the subject or the object of a clause, we can apply a little test. Let's start with a simpler example:

Richard Nixon—who/m Mazo supported—asked for the series to be terminated.

who Mazo supported --> *Mazo supported he (incorrect; don't use subject pronoun)

whom Mazo supported --> Mazo supported him (correct; use object pronoun)

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Your example is more complex, but let's apply the same test:

Richard Nixon—who/m Mazo claimed had lost the election—asked for the series to be terminated.

whom Mazo claimed had lost the election --> *Mazo claimed had lost the election him (incorrect; don't use object pronoun)

who Mazo claimed had lost the election --> *Mazo claimed had lost the election he (incorrect; don't use subject pronoun)

Well, wait a minute, if neither of those works then . . . we have a clue. The pronoun is the subject of its own clause within the clause:

Richard Nixon—who/m Mazo claimed had lost the election—asked for the series to be terminated.

whom Mazo claimed had lost the election --> Mazo claimed [that] him had lost the election (incorrect; don't use object pronoun)

who Mazo claimed had lost the election --> Mazo claimed [that] he had lost the election (correct; use subject pronoun)

Is this sentence correct? "Richard Nixon—whom Mazo claimed had lost the election because of the fraud—asked for the series to be terminated."

1 Answers1