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Who and Whom
Who/whoever: Use as a nominative case pronoun.
Whom/whomever: Use as an objective case pronoun.
The use of who or whom depends on how the word is used in the clause in which it appears, not the word to which it refers. Problems usually arise because the word order is changed, making it difficult to tell how the word is used. To be certain, analyze the sentence and find out how the word is used in the clause in which it appears. Who is used for subjects, and whom is used for objects. It is often easer to tell how a word is used in a question if you rearrange the word order as subject, verb and object. When you are having trouble analyzing the sentence, you can put your finger over the first part of the sentence and substitute she or he, her or him as appropriate. If she or he works, use who. If her or him works, use whom. However, the only way you will know for certain is to analyze the sentence. In the following sentences, the clauses in which the who or who appear are italicized to help you pick out the relevant clauses.
I recently met Margo, who is an electrical engineer. (Who is the subject.)
Margo is an electrical engineer whom I met recently. (Whom is the direct object)
Margo, whom I met recently, is an engineer. (Whom is the direct object.)
Who is it? (Who is the subject.)
To whom are you referring? (Whom is the object of the preposition.)
She talked to the girl who was playing in the street. (Who is the subject.)
The police officer asked the witness to point out whomever he saw at the bank. (Whomever is the direct object.
Who's and Whose
Who's: It is a contraction. If you are uncertain, say "who is" and see if the sentence makes sense.
Whose: It is a possessive pronoun.
Guess who's coming to dinner?
Whose dinner is this?
She didn't know whose apartment it was.
Who's that over there?
That, Which and Who
That/Who: Use that or who if the clause is essential to
the meaning of the sentence. Use who only for people and animals with names.
Which/Who: Use which or who if the clause is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Which or who takes a comma.
The Nile is the river that gives Egypt life.
The Nile, which flows into the Mediterranean, gives Egypt life.
The tree that fell on our car was an oak.
The tree, which has leaves, provides shade.
The dog that has a blue collar is ours.
Rover who has a blue collar is ours.
The girl, who lives down the street, was my cousin.
Neither and Either
Either or, Neither nor: They are conjunctions. The verb following them is singular or plural depending on what noun or pronoun follows or or nor.
Neither Nancy nor Andrew won the game.
Either John or his parents are coming.
But: Neither and either by themselves are singular.
Either of them should be here soon.
Neither of the players has a ticket.
Either of the children can win.
Neither of the players was eligible.
Dangling Modifiers
Participles are verb forms usually ending in ing, ed, t or en. A participial phrase should immediately precede what it is modifying. If it doesn't, it is called a dangling modifier.
Wrong: Running down the street, his hat flew off.
Right: His hat flew off as he was running down the street.
Wrong: Flying to California, the Grand Canyon appeared suddenly.
Right:The Grand Canyon appeared suddenly when we flew to California.
Subjunctive Mood
Use the subjunctive mood when expressing something conditional or contrary to fact, i.e. not actually happening, such as a wish, doubt, hope, etc. The key point is that the sentence is expressing something that is not real, only hoped for or imagined. You use the plural form of the verb instead of the singular with the subjunctive mood. In most cases, you use "were" instead of "was." Often, the subjunctive follows if.
If only I were 10 years younger!
If I were you, I'd go to Las Vegas.
I wish I were a cowboy.
If we were rich, we'd go on a trip.
If you were in my shoes, what would you do?
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