It is sometimes difficult to determine the case of a pronoun, especially when a parenthetical expression follows a relative pronoun. A pupil wrote,

We should vote for the person whom we think is best fitted for the position, but clearly he should have expressed himself in either of the following ways:

1. We should vote for the person who we think is best fitted for the position.

2. We should vote for the person whom we think best fitted for the position.

In (1) who is the subject of is. In (2) the meaning is "whom we think to be best fitted," therefore whom is in the objective case, the subject of the infinitive to be. The pupil would have avoided the error if he had put the parenthetical expression elsewhere in the sentence. These sentences are correct:

The man whom the committee named is our candidate. We shall award the prize to the girl whom we consider the most deserving.

Exercises

221. Discuss the pronouns in the following sentences:

1. Michael Banim survived his brother many years, but wrote nothing of value after his death.

2. They murder Caesar, and the people remain on their side until Antony wins them over by a wonderful speech at his funeral.

3. Brutus kills himself, and Antony shows his generous nature by bringing out his good qualities as he lies dead.

4. His brother asked him to bring him his racket.

222. As you rewrite the following sentences, remove any ambiguity you detect in them:

1. I did not write my composition in my notebook because I left it in my locker.

2. While coasting, a boy caught his foot in the railing of a bridge, and it was torn off.

3. Antonio persuaded Bassanio to give the judge his wife's ring, in payment for getting him out of court.

4. The next winter he pulled a man out of the canal after he had gone through the ice and been sucked under it by the current.

5. He answered that he would sell the horse, and the man looked him over.

6. As Death and the Woman neared the sailors on the becalmed ship, they saw them throwing dice.

7. The defendant claimed in court yesterday that his brother gave him the deed to the property at a time when he was in sufficiently good health to know what he was about.

223. Rewrite the following sentences, and be prepared to give reasons for the changes you make:

1. The train, after being derailed, crashed into an iron bridge, and it was completely smashed.

2. John Fox was run over and instantly killed by a runaway horse on his way home from work.

3. Mr. Burton gathered his belongings, and after bidding his brother good-by, he left his house.

4. Near a large hole in the woods, we found the wing and tail feathers of a pheasant, which made us think that it belonged to a fox.

5. He (Gawain) told the king, but he said he was disobedient as he didn't do what he told him to do.