A Handbook of the English Language

by R. G. Latham

OBLIQUE.

Qu. Who do you say that it is?—Ans. He.

Qu. Whose do you say that it is?—Ans. His.

Qu. Whom do you say that they seek?—Ans. Him.

Note.—The answer should always be made by means of a pronoun, as by so doing we distinguish the accusative case from the nominative.

Note.—And, if necessary, it should be made in full. Thus the full answer to whom do you say that they seek? is, I say that they seek him.

[§ 460]. Nevertheless, such expressions as whom do

they say that it is? are common, especially in oblique questions.

"And he axed him and seide, whom seien the people that I am?—Thei answereden and seiden, Jon Baptist—and he seide to hem, But whom seien ye that I am?"—Wiclif, Luke ix.

"Tell me in sadness whom she is you love."—Romeo and Juliet, i, 1.

"And as John fulfilled his course, he said, whom think ye that I am?"—Acts xiii. 25.

This confusion, however, is exceptionable.