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.
[§ 536]. Nevertheless, such expressions as whom do they say that it is? are common, especially in oblique questions. The following examples are Mr. Guest's.—Philological Transactions.
"And he axed hem 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.
Two circumstances encourage this confusion. 1. The presence of a second verb, which takes the appearance of a governing verb. 2. The omission of a really oblique antecedent or relative. 3. The use of accusative for nominative forms in the case of personal pronouns.