On the rare occasions when I’m stuck for an After Deadline topic, there are a few perennials I can always rely on, with examples easy to find. Dangling modifiers are never in short supply. Subject-verb agreement, basic as it is, remains a daily challenge.
And, of course, we have the who/whom problem.
For nonprofessional writers, the most common relative-pronoun lapse seems to be the use of “who,†the subject or nominative form, in places where standard usage requires the objective form “whom.†But Times writers suffer more often from the opposite problem â€" a tendency to hypercorrection, which leads us to use “whom†when plain old “who†is called for.
The latest examples:
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The same was true for Sammy Sosa, whom The New York Times reported tested positive for steroid use in 2003.
This is the most common hypercorrection error. The pronoun should be “who†because it’s the subject of the verb “tested.†But wemistakenly treat it as though it’s the direct object of “reported.â€
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In her study, when men and women considered offers of casual sex from famous people, or offers from close friends whom they were told were good in bed, the gender differences in acceptance of casual-sex proposals evaporated nearly to zero. …
Steven Pinker, the Harvard psychologist and popular author, also backs the Darwinians, whom he says still have the weight of evidence on their side.
Two more instances, in the same piece. Don’t be led astray by the parenthetical attributions “they were told†and “he says.†In both cases, the relative pronoun is functioning as the subject of its clause, so we need “who.†Mentally remove the attribution phrase and it becomes clear: “who … were good†and “who … still have.â€
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Then you offer a point to whomever can put the least amount of veg! etables on their fork.
Another common cause of the hypercorrective “whom†(or, here, “whomeverâ€): confusion over prepositional phrases. Don’t assume that a relative pronoun after a preposition must be the objective form. The case of the relative pronoun is determined by its role within the relative clause. Here, the pronoun is the subject of the verb “canâ€; the object of the preposition is the entire relative clause. So make it “to whoever can put …†(Also, “least amount†is awkward and ambiguous. Make it “smallest amount,†“tiniest bit†or something else.)
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In a Word
This week’s grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.
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But for hundreds of others, who have mounted repeated protests, the new mining operation is nothing more than a symbol of Greece’s willingness these days to accept any development, no matter the environmental cost. Only 10 years ago, they like topoint out, Greece’s highest court ruled that the amount of environmental damage that mining would do here was not worth the economic gain.
The logic is backward here. We meant that the gain is not worth the cost (in damage) â€" not that the cost is not worth the gain. Rephrase.
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Both Anthony and Garnett each were hit with technicals for pushing and jawing with one another. On several previous possessions, Anthony and Garnett had banged in the low post and barked at one another when the whistle was blown.
We don’t need both “both†and “each.†(Also, use “each other†rather than “one another†for two people.)
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That why-can’t-we-get-along outlook, coming from scholars who had already run the tenure gauntlet, drew a mixed response from the audience.
The Times’s stylebook favors “gantlet†for this sense.
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Her brother said the two had recently celebr! ated the ! New Year in Rotterdam and that Ms. Cansiz had betrayed no concerns about her safety.
Make it parallel: “Her brother said that the two … and that Ms. Cansiz …†The stylebook says this:
Often a sentence with two parallel clauses requires the expression and that in the second part; in such a case, keep that in the first part also, for balance: The mayor said that she might run again and that if she did, her brother would be her campaign manager.
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But aides to both acknowledge the dynamic on Capitol Hill could change and that Mr. McCain â€" and others â€" will give Mr. Hagel a rough time.
Same problem. Make it “acknowledge that the dynamic … and that Mr. McCain …â€
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At 22, Ms. Ora, the prized protégé of Jay-Z, has been rapidly winning over designers with her carefree style: a blend of hip-hop, designer bling and ’90s Gwen Stefani.
See the stylebook; a woman is a prtégée.
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Between them, Senator John Kerry and Chuck Hagel have five Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in Vietnam, shared a harrowing combat experience in the Mekong Delta and responded in different ways to the conflict that tore their generation apart.
The placement of “Between them†suggests that it applies to the whole sentence, which is not what we meant. Rearrange.
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And he sets off chemical reactions in not only Madge but also her smart kid sister, Millie (the megaphone-voiced Madeleine Martin) and Rosemary, the Owens’s boarder, who pretends to be happily independent but really just wants a man to call her own (specifically, her sometime boyfriend, Howard Bevans, played by a nicely understated Reed Birney).
The plural of Owens is Owenses, and the plural possessive is Owenses’.
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It used to be that parents didn’t want their children to get swollen heads (when’s the last time you ! heard tha! t expression) or, for more superstitious reasons, feared that praise would bring on the wrath of the gods, or at least bad luck.
The idiom is “swelled head.â€
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Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, used the term a couple weeks ago.
Make it “a couple of weeks.â€
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He signed off with a lightning-bolt symbol associated with the SS, Adolf Hitler’s bodyguard force.
As the stylebook says, we should ordinarily omit his first name.
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“It’s probably better not to†engage in such transactions, said John S. Griswold, executive director of the Commonfund Institute, the research arm of a money manager that caters to educational endowments in Wilton, Conn.
How many educational endowments are there in Wilton, Conn. Be careful about the placement of prepositional phrases.
