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I have a friend whom I met last year, started a new business, was not interested in it.
I have a friend who I met last year, started a new business, was not interested in it.
My grammar book is saying sentence2 is correct as “who” becomes subject of started a business, was not interested in it.
But I feel that sentence1 is correct, as whom becomes object of I met last year.
Which is correct?
Your sentence contains the following clauses :
Main clause : I have a friend.
Subordinate clause (1) : who/whom I met
Subordinate clause (2) : who started a new business
Subordinate clause (3) : who was not interested in it.
The relative pronoun who is common in these subordinate clauses. So, if you introduce the 1st subordinate clause with who, you can omit it in other two clauses :
I have a friend who I met last year, (who) started a new business, and (who) was not interested in it.
[The objective form of "who" is whom or who].
If you introduce the first subordinate clause with 'whom', you have to introduce the other clauses with 'who'.
I have a friend whom I met last year, who started a new business and who was not interested in it.
You can omit the 2nd who in this sentence.
