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Bechtel, John Hendricks, 1841-

"Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking"


"Whom do you think that tall gentleman is?" Whom should be who, as it
is the attribute of the verb is.
"Who do you take me for?" Being the object of the preposition for, who
should be whom.
After "To be"
"I knew it was him" is incorrect, because the word which forms the
pronoun attribute of the verb was must be in the nominative case. But
the infinitive of the neuter verb requires the objective case.
Therefore we must say, "I knew it to be him," not "I knew it to be
he." The latter faulty form is very frequently employed.
"Who did you suppose it to be?" Incorrect. Say, "whom."
"Whom did you suppose it was?" Incorrect. Say, "who."
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After the Imperative
The imperative mood requires the objective case after it. "Let you and
I try it." It should be, "Let you and me try it."
"Let he who made thee answer that."-- Byron. He should have said, "Let
him who made thee answer that."
"Let him be whom, he may." Him is the objective after the imperative
let, and is correct. Whom should be who, as pronoun attribute of the
verb may be. "Who he may be, I cannot tell," is correct.


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