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

To: Investor2 who wrote (1627)	11/26/1998 10:39:00 PM
From: Anaxagoras	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4711

"To whom was he referring?" The sentence just didn't "sound" correct, for some reason. Indeed, it's correct. Abe: "Ben said he was a twit." Carl: "To whom was he referring?" What would be an alternative? Dan: "Who was he referring to?" Dan's response is nasty for two reasons (although perhaps pleasing to an ear used to sloppiness, like most ears are). First, the nominative "who" is used instead of the indirect object "whom"; that's a no-no when used as an object of the preposition "to". This isn't just a nit picky point. It's nice to have such a conceptual distinction reflected in language both to help us get our own thoughts clear as well as to aid us in our communication with others. Second, Dan's response violates the old fashioned, but comfortable, fashion statement: Never end a sentence (or clause) with a preposition. Of course I've heard a wag respond to this that such a rule was "...a piece of pedantry with which he would not put up". ;-) Anaxagoras (who frequently makes mistakes but enjoys talking about them)