Difference between which and whom

[Evren]

Test No. incompl/elem-39 "Relative Pronoun Exercises", question 6

The car to ......... you are referring happens to be mine!

(a) that
(b) whom
(c) which

Test No. incompl/elem-39 "Relative Pronoun Exercises", answer 6

The car to which you are referring happens to be mine!

Correct answer: (c) which
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difference between which and whom

Evren

[Alan]

Hi,

Which is used for things and whom for people.
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Reflections

[evren]

Why can't we say:
The car that you are referring to happens to be mine.
And why ''to'' comes after the car?
Thanks.

[Conchita]

Hello Evren,

You can say it like that, too, and it's probably more used in speech. 'To' comes after 'car' in the formal way of saying that sentence. In fact, when I started learning English, you had to say it like that, i.e. 'the car to which you are referring', especially in written English. Your way of putting it was very colloquial, at least that's what I was taught. But times change and this language goes hand in hand with them...

Another example of English grammar's laxity is that now you can say 'that' for people, whereas some time ago you were supposed to use 'who' only (personally, though, I can't get used to saying something like: 'The man that gave me this').

[Alan]

Hi Evren,

Another point is you can't use to followed by that. Could I suggest you have a look at some stuff I've written for the site under the heading esl lessons. If you look through the index, you'll come to Relative Pronoun 1, 2 and 3.

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Relative Pronoun

[Misskhan]

Test No. incompl/elem-39 "Relative Pronoun Exercises", question 6[/i]

The car to ......... you are referring happens to be mine!

(a) that
(b) whom
(c) which

Test No. incompl/elem-39 "Relative Pronoun Exercises", answer 6

The car to which you are referring happens to be mine!

Correct answer: (c) which
_________________________

Hi Teachers,

why we can't use "that" here in this sentence as "that" is used for indication of specific things whereas "which" is for unspecified things and in the above sentence speaker is saying "the car" it means that he is indicating about the specific car.

Do I get it wrong?

Please explain

Thanks in advance

[Misskhan]

Test No. incompl/elem-39 "Relative Pronoun Exercises", question 6

The car to ......... you are referring happens to be mine!

(a) that
(b) whom
(c) which

Test No. incompl/elem-39 "Relative Pronoun Exercises", answer 6

The car to which you are referring happens to be mine!

Correct answer: (c) which
_________________________

Hi Teachers,

why we can't use "that" here in this sentence as "that" is used for indication of specific things whereas "which" is for unspecified things and in the above sentence speaker is saying "the car" it means that he is indicating about the perticular thing.

Do I get it wrong?

Please explain

Thanks in advance

[Kitosdad]

" Another point is you can't use " to " followed by " that."

" And just how did you come to that conclusion."?

" Did it all come down to that level. " ?.

Excuse me Alan, but these sentences all make sense, to me at least.

Seems more like my obsession to never using " got ", preferring " have " every time.
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If you need me, I'm here.

[Misskhan]

[Iram Akhter]

Basically 'which' is a pronoun that is used for things and animals and 'whom' is a pronoun that is used for persons.For example ,
'I found a book which was lost'

'I am looking for Sara whom do you want to see'