17
votes
Accepted
Who's that book by? vs. Whom's that book by?
Who's that book by?
is 100% natural and common.
Whom's that book by?
I've never heard it, and it sounds terrible to me, though I suppose technically the grammar is good.
Whom is that book by?
...
- 12.7k
16
votes
Who's that book by? vs. Whom's that book by?
The simplest way to ask that question is:
Who wrote that book?
The original "Who's that book by?" is a clunky, unnatural construction. You've got the who/whom thing going on as well as ...
- 572
10
votes
Who's that book by? vs. Whom's that book by?
My school (in rural Australia) never once even mentioned that there were times that "whom" would be a better choice of words, but as I started to encounter the word in the wild I figured out ...
- 101
4
votes
Who's that book by? vs. Whom's that book by?
I think there's a few things going on here...
Whom's that book by?
The contraction "whom's" sounds odd, because "whom" is now generally used in formal contexts, and contracted &...
- 3,628
3
votes
Accepted
What is correct, "a club day" or "the club day"?
Since there are many "club days," "a" is probably the best choice, just as you might use it with a day of the week: "Tomorrow is a Monday."
If there had already been a ...
- 8,687
2
votes
Who's that book by? vs. Whom's that book by?
Only whom was accepted as correct when it was the object of the verb. ("Whom were you speaking to?")
Here, who is the subject ("Who is the author of the book?"). It would never ...
- 29.5k
2
votes
Accepted
Does 'as hell' sound like the speaker is raged?
Mirriam-Webster states "informal + somewhat impolite. — used to make a statement more forceful "
Similarly "Chill out bro" is very casual language. It tells you to relax.
You use ...
- 147k
1
vote
Please show me some examples of "couldn't"
In many societies, it is considered more polite and respectful to say some things indirectly. The first sentence you quoted is an example of that. If you said something like
Hey, you, explain it ...
- 1,274
1
vote
Please show me some examples of "couldn't"
The first one is request because of it's question mark and the fact that the question is directed to "you" in this case.
More examples are:
You couldn’t stop at a bank machine, could you?
...
- 2,959
1
vote
Should 'being' be omitted in the sentence?
From the point of view of traditional grammar, the sentence is not well formed. The evidence can be seen not by the health insurance companies but by their "being required to . . .". Because ...
- 4,944
1
vote
Can I use "Could" for advice?
It is certainly possible to use could for a suggestion, which is a kind of advice.
You could take the train.
You could use a hammer.
In the case of you could use my pen it could also be about ...
- 62.8k
1
vote
Can I use "Could" for advice?
If someone asks you if you can use your pen, you would probably reply
Yes, you can use my pen
and not
Yes, you could use my pen
As using "could" implies that you might or might not give ...
- 2,959
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