Using Adjective
Clauses
(#12):
Avoid
these Mistakes!
Part
3
Although adjective clauses
are very useful in
both speaking and writing,
you should be
careful with them. Here are two more
common errors that you should avoid:
1.
Do not use who
after prepositions.
When relative pronouns are
directly after prepositions (a common pattern
in formal speaking and writing), object
forms are needed.
Because who is
a subject form, it is noticeably
incorrect in this situation: whom should be used.
Examples
Bob is the person to *who
I
gave the report. (wrong)
Bob is the person to whom
I gave the report.
(right)
Is Julie the person by *who
the report was
written? (wrong)
Is Julie the person by whom
the report was
written? (right)
That letter begins "To
*who it may
concern." (wrong)
That letter begins "To
whom it may
concern." (right)
______________________________________________
In situations that are not
formal,
the relative pronoun is often
separated
from the preposition. When
this happens, who
is
often used instead of whom:
Bob is the person who I gave
the report to. (common)
Is Julie the person who the
report was written
by? (common)
Remember: Sentences like the above are not
acceptable in formal situations.
______________________________________________
2. Do not use prepositions
with where or when. Instead, use
which.
When where
and
when are used in adjective clauses, they are not used with prepositions. The relative pronoun which may be used in this
situation, however.
Examples
That's the room in *where
I have class.
(wrong)
That's the room where I have
class.
(right)
That's the room in which I
have class.
(right)
Is this the city in *where
you were born?
(wrong)
Is this the city where you
were born?
(right)
Is this the city in which
you were born?
(right)
Tomorrow is the day on *when
he has his job interview. (wrong)
Tomorrow is the day when he
has his job interview. (right)
Tom
orrow is the day on which
he has his job
interview. (right)
1990 is the year in *when
they were married.
(wrong)
1990 is the year when they
were married.
(right)
1990 is the year in which
they were married.
(right)
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