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I was wondering if this question is accepted grammatically:
- "Whom would you offer the ride?"
Some people say that the preposition 'to' should be added in this sentence:
or,
Could anyone please help me?
Thanks in advance, Oodo
The question is not so much about the usage of "whom", I think, but rather, the use of "to".
The verb 'offer' can have two objects ; You would offer / him / the ride. If this sentence is changed into a question, it will be like this ; Whom would you offer the ride? In this context I can't understand why Preposition 'to' should be added into this question... - tasmantiger comment above.
Indeed, in your sentence "To whom would you offer the ride?", the verb "offer" takes two objects: "whom" and "ride". The point is that one (the ride) is a direct object, while the other (whom) is an indirect object.
We can see this more clearly if the sentence is written (more simply?) with the indirect object after the verb:
You would offer the ride to whom?
Now we can see that "to" serves to identify "whom" as the indirect object. The "ride" is offered directly and has no need of a preposition. So, if we move "whom" back to the front of the sentence, it either takes its "to" with it, to show it's an indirect object...
To whom would you offer the ride?
... or (and to be more relaxed about the structure - thanks, keshlam) you can leave the "to" at the end:
Whom would you offer the ride to?
For more information, see here: Write.com - direct and indirect objects.
If you're bothering to use "whom" (correct, but formal/Standard English), the examples including "to" are preferable.
You could argue that "Whom would you give the ride?" is a construction where the "to" is simply dropped ("[To] whom would you give the ride?") and would be understood, but if you're writing in the formal/Standard English you might as well use the unambiguously correct "to whom".
"Who are you giving a ride?" is common in casual speech, but not correct Standard English. "To whom are you giving a ride?" is correct (but would sound formal when spoken). "Whom are you giving a ride?" is an unhappy medium, arguably not correct but too formal for casual use.
whom pronoun: used instead of “who” as the object of a verb or preposition. (Google)
According to traditional Latinate grammar, ‘who’ forms the subjective case and so should be used in subject position in a sentence, e.g., “who painted this?” The form whom, on the other hand, forms the objective case and so should be used in object position in a sentence, e.g., “whom do you think we should elect?” or, in the OP’s example, ”to whom would you offer the ride?"
The use of ‘whom’ has steadily and significantly declined and is now largely restricted to formal contexts. The more frequent practice in modern English is to use who instead of whom and, where applicable, to put the preposition at the end of the sentence (who would you offer the ride to?). Currently, such usage is acceptable English, but in formal writing the distinction is preferable.
