Guest blogger Arlene Miller asks, “Should we dumb down the language?”

Guest Blogger Arlene Miller writes:

I am a member of some grammar groups on LinkedIn, where there are fascinating — and long – discussions of what some people would call grammatical minutiae. However, this week, I saw a discussion that I found a little surprising. The question posed was “Should we continue to teach who and whom to our students?” the real question is: Should we continue to teach the difference between them and when to use each?

On my blog, bigwords 101, I talked about the difference between linguistic and grammatical prescriptivism and descriptivism:

▪    Prescriptivists (the camp that I lean toward) think that the rules are there and they should be followed.

▪    Descriptivists believe that language evolves as new usages come into play.

Well, if we followed a purely prescriptivist viewpoint, we would still be using the language of centuries ago – thank you, Chaucer.

But what would happen if we followed a purely descriptivist viewpoint? How does language change, anyway?

Let’s look at an example: I have always used the idiomatic prepositional phrase by accident. The younger generation seems to be using on accident instead. Is it wrong? Which is right? Should we adopt what the younger generation is now using? Is there a reason that by should be used rather than on? Why did anyone start saying it that way in the first place? Is it because we say its opposite as on purpose?

People use who and whom incorrectly because they don’t know or understand the rule. Should we say, “Oh, let’s just forget trying. It’s just too difficult to teach or understand”? Should we dumb down the language? Or, should we avoid using whom?

Taking who and whom specifically,  there is a reason that who is correct sometimes and whom is correct other times. And most people studying a foreign language will run across the same thing in that language.

The distinction between who and whom is the same as the distinction between I and me. Are we now going to say “Me and him went to the movies” is okay? If many people say it that way, will that become the standard?

Then, there is the issue of conversation versus formal writing. Let’s say you are writing a cover letter. Are you going to distinguish between who and whom? All the grammar books I know of make that distinction, at least as of now. I would recommend that anyone writing anything formal use the rules until they are “formally” changed.

The evolution of language is nothing new. And I won’t pretend to know much about it. I am not a linguist, although I wish I were, and I find the subject fascinating.  I do know that there needs to be a mix of descriptivism and prescriptivism, as there always has been; otherwise, the language would never have changed throughout the centuries. But where do we draw the line?

But who and whom? That’s where I draw the line!

Here is the difference between who and whom:

There are three cases for pronouns in the English language: Nominative, Objective, and Possessive.

▪    The nominative case is used for subjects of sentences (and predicate nominatives, but we won’t go there today).

▪    The objective case is used for direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions, the three types of objects.

▪    The possessive case is used for ownership.

Let’s take the pronoun I: nominative is I; objective is me; possessive is my or mine.

▪    I am going to the movies.

▪    He took me to the movies.

▪    He is mine.

Now let’s take the pronoun who: nominative is who; objective is whom; possessive is whose.

▪    Who is going to the movies? (Who is the subject of the verb is going.)

▪    Whom did you invite to the movies? (Whom is the direct object of the verb invite.)

▪    To whom did you give the movie tickets? (Whom is the object of the preposition to.)

▪    Whose tickets are they, anyway?

One thing is for sure. I will be teaching my students the difference between who and whom!

Click here to read the original blog post “‘Whom’ Cares?” by Arlene Miller.

 Arlene Miller, also known as The Grammar Diva, is the author of four grammar books and a novel. Her first grammar book, The Best Little Grammar Book Ever, is being used by many schools and colleges. Arlene’s grammar books clear up common grammar issues. In addition to writing books, Arlene writes a weekly blog post about grammar, punctuation, and anything else to do with words. She is also a copyeditor for both fiction and nonfiction books, teaches 7th grade English in Petaluma, teaches The Best Little Grammar Class Ever at College of Marin, and teaches corporate grammar and business writing workshops.

Arlene has been a presenter at the Sonoma County Book Festival, Bay Area Independent Publishing Association (BAIPA), Petaluma and Guerneville branches of the Sonoma County Library, Romance Writers of America, Society of Technical Communications, and Redwood Writers Academy. She is a member of Redwood Writers and BAIPA. She holds degrees in Print Media, English, Humanities, and California teaching and school administration credentials.