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I have a grammar which says that "whom" is used when it follow a preposition. E.g: to whom am I speaking. to whom it may concern. The grammar also says that "whom" is the object form of "who". E.g. He was a person whom everyone regarded as trustworthy. ( Whom is the object in the sentence.) "However, this is now felt to be excessively formal by most speakers and who is commonly used instead." (VINCE, M. and SUNDERLAND, P.,2003). I'm reading "Inferno" and there is this sentence: "Nobody had any idea who you were (...)" Wouldn't that be whom ? Is "who" in that sentence an object? You is the subject and who would be the object.

In the sentence For we can show how "dogs bark" comes to have the property that constitutes X can someone explain the meaning of comes to have ? What does it mean?

Why is it Englishman, Frenchman, etc. (one word) but British man (two words)? Answer It has to do with etymology and usage. Old English made use of compounds: Engliscman The word was in use before, is still today and its spelling has been reformed to Englishman. There are other words that were in use before and not today: Englander The use of the word British may have come into popular use only after, in the 18th Century , when it became interchangeable with English . At the time the English language did not tend to make use of full word compounds that would lead to words like Britishman . Moreover, the word British means related to the Britons (as yellowish means related to yellow ) and it would be used as an adjective to British Isles , the people themselves were called Britons . Similar treats are found in French, while no full-word compounds exist today, words like partout ( par tout , lit. "through all", i.e. everywhere), aujourd'hui ( au jour d'hui , li...

For example "lasers are being used to treat different skin conditions". It is a passive form without a subject. Please guide.

Which one is correct, "best wishes to you" or "best wishes for you"? Answer They have slightly different meanings. Best wishes to you means I am sending you my best wishes, while Best wishes for you means I have best wishes in my heart for you. The first form is the standard in letters and cards, for example.

The above phrase is something I've known for as long as I can remember, though I don't know from where. What is its origin and usage? Answer According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the exact origins of the phrase to a T are unknown: The original sense of T here has not been ascertained. Suggestions that it was the tee at Curling, or at Golf, or a T square, appear on investigation to be untenable; it has also been suggested that it referred to the proper completion of a t by crossing it (see 1b); or that it was the initial of a word; in reference to this it is notable that to a tittle (i.e. to a prick, dot, jot) was in use nearly a century before ‘to a T’, and in exactly the same constructions: see tittle n. So, it is possible that the use is not referring to the use of a tee when building something. The Phrase Finder agrees that there is no accepted derivation, but offers the following: Given Wright's earliest 'to a T' usage and the lack of evidence to suppo...

What is the word that describes people who are easily influenced by propaganda or always do what all other people are seen to be doing without much thinking? Answer Well, If we're throwing words around, I'd like to throw in credulous .