関係代名詞の使い方, part 20: whom

I think I've said almost everything (that) I want to say about relative pronouns. The last thing I want to mention is "whom".

The rule for "whom" is that you can use it when it represents the object of the verb in the relative clause, like this:

• The guy whom I met this morning wears glasses that are as yellow as these grapefruits.

The truth is, though, that many native speakers don't bother using "whom" nowadays.

• We don't bother to learn about the details of other cultures until we have to. 私たちは必要に迫られるまで他の文化の細かいことなどわざわざ知ろうとはしない。(example from Eijiro on the Web)
  

There are two alternatives. The first is to use "who".

• The guy who I met this morning wears glasses that are as yellow as these grapefruits.

The second is to leave out the relative pronoun. Since it represents the object, we can do that if it's not in a nonessential relative clause.

• The guy I met this morning wears glasses that are as yellow as these grapefruits.

The friends (whom) I saw yesterday were visiting Japan from France. They live in Lyon. We had lunch in Shibuya, and I had a chance to play with their five-year-old son. He speaks French and Japanese, so I did my best to communicate with him in Japanese. It turned out that he loved riding piggyback, so I alternated between carrying him on my shoulders and making him "fly" down the sidewalk.

• 肩車 (かたぐるま) (n) riding piggyback; riding on someone's shoulders;

We were having too much fun; at one point, I almost hit some 20-something women. The women (whom) I almost hit, though, were kind enough just to laugh.

You are the people (whom) I want to please with this blog, so let me know if you have any questions.