Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rambi who wrote (1026)	4/1/1998 10:06:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4711

Yawn! I feel as if I should put my hair in a bun and wear bifocals! Why do I love this stuff? Is it an illness? A mutant gene? Nah -- it's a sense of fun. (Be warned: I wear bifocals. No bun, however.) The Fowler I was referring to is "The King's English," which is only 363 pages long. Are you referring to "A Dictionary of Modern English Usage"? I don't have it, alas. jbe

To: Rambi who wrote (1026)	4/1/1998 10:52:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4711

"Are you who/whom I think you are?" CONTINUED It just occurred to me that there is yet another reason to prefer "who" over "whom" in the above sentence. It is this. The verb "to think," when used in the sense of "to believe," "to suppose," is an intransitive verb. Hence, it cannot take a direct object! Ta Da!! At the same time, penni, you might start pulling out the reference books again. You can remove the phrases "I think" and "we know" from the sentences you quoted without changing the meaning of the sentences at all. The phrases are indeed redundant. But you can't really remove the "I think" from Alex's question without changing the meaning. "Are you who you are?" just doesn't hack it. The confusion stems from this: the verb "are" already appears to have a subject - "you". Hence, in Alex's view, "who/whom" must be a direct object -- the direct object of "think." But of course it can't be, because "think" cannot take a direct object. So -- back to the drawing board! jbe