To whom does it belong
S.K. Pugh
and that instead, "To whom does it belong?" should be used. I don't dispute
this fact, but I would be interested to know what is wrong with the former.
In my estimation, the "Who does it belong to?" usage is more common (well,
in my part of the world anyway), especially in speech. If this is the case,
has this usage become generally acceptable?
Steve.
Brent Dickerson
: [ . . . ]
: In my estimation, the "Who does it belong to?" usage is more common (well,
: in my part of the world anyway), especially in speech. If this is the case,
: has this usage become generally acceptable?
: Steve.
S:
Hm! If we are concerned with what is more *common* and hence (I suppose)
*generally* acceptable especially in speech, what I hear well-nigh
inevitably is, "Who's it belong to?". Should one be so particklar as to
carefully pronounce it "Who does it belong to?", I would think that such
particularity would also in such cases usually bring the speaker to say,
"To whom does it belong?" (with a certain vague look of supposed
superiority).
Best Wishes,
--BCD
Pascal MacProgrammer
>People often tell me that it is incorrect to ask "Who does it belong to?",
>and that instead, "To whom does it belong?" should be used. I don't dispute
>this fact, but I would be interested to know what is wrong with the former.
Those people studied under Miss Thistlebottom, who told them that you
must never use a preposition to end a sentence with. Well, that rule is
fine for Latin, because in fact, Latin sentences never do end with
prepositions.
The preposition-at-the-end usage in English has been around longer than
the rule, though, and Miss Thistlebottom and all her ancestors have not
been able to wipe it out.
Remember that there are various levels of usage in English, and
constructions that are acceptable on one level are not acceptable on
others. Miss T believes that there is only one level.
Here's the usage, as I see it:
When a question-word is the direct object of a verb, or the object of a
preposition, it goes at the front of the sentence. The preposition goes
at the end.
Though the object of a preposition should be "whom" and not "who", when
is separated from the preposition like this, the "m" often gets dropped
from the end.
--
==----= Steve MacGregor
([.] [.]) Phoenix, AZ
--------------------------oOOo--(_)--oOOo----------------------------------
Visualize whirled peas!
Bryan James Lekas
Since you are using "to" and it is a preposition, you must use the
objective case.
It is similar to (incorrectly) saying "This book belongs to she"
instead of "This book belongs to her"
It is (mis)used a lot and is acceptable for speaking, but you
wouldn't use it in a formal essay.
Hope that helped.
later
Bryan Lekas
Dept. of Chemistry
University of Florida