Page 131 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking
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The change in English has not progressed so far that you should eliminate
using whom entirely, but what you should avoid is using it incorrectly. It’s not a
fancier form of who. It has different usages, and you should understand them
before deciding to use whom.
■ Bad: Whom shall I say is calling?
■ Good: Who shall I say is calling?
■ Bad: I don’t know whom you think you are.
■ Good: I don’t know who you think you are.
In both examples, who is correct because it is the subject pronoun.
10.10 Subject Pronouns versus Object Pronouns in
Some Situations
Despite being more grammatically consistent, very few English speakers in any
country use subject pronouns in phrases such as it is I or this is she. The phrases
are so formal as to seem stilted or, to the ears of many English speakers, even
wrong.
Instead, the colloquial formations that use the object pronoun are far more
■common. For example, imagine these conversations: Telephone caller: May
I speak to Juanita?
■ Formal Juanita: This is she.
■ Colloquial Juanita: This is her.
■ You: Knock-knock.
■ Person inside: Who’s there?
■ Formal you: It is I.
■ Colloquial you: It’s me.
■ Lawyer: Is this the person who attacked the victim?
■ Formal witness: Yes, it is he.
