Choose the sentence that uses who/whom correctly in a dependent clause.

Choose the sentence that uses who/whom correctly in a dependent clause.

• A. To whom did you speak yesterday?
• B. Who did you speak to yesterday?
• C. Whom did you speak to yesterday?
• D. Whom did you spoke to yesterday?

Answer: (A)

The key idea is pronoun case after a preposition and the correct verb form after do-support in questions. When the pronoun is the object of a preposition, it should be in the objective case. Here the preposition is to, so the pronoun must be whom. In questions formed with did, the main verb should stay in its base form, so speak, not spoke. Fronting the preposition to before the auxiliary is also the standard formal structure: To whom did you speak yesterday? Thus, this sentence uses whom correctly as the object of the preposition and uses the correct verb form after did. The other options either use the subjective case (who) for the object of a preposition, place the preposition at the end in a way that’s less formal but acceptable only in casual speech, or mix up tense by using spoke after did.

The key idea is pronoun case after a preposition and the correct verb form after do-support in questions. When the pronoun is the object of a preposition, it should be in the objective case. Here the preposition is to, so the pronoun must be whom. In questions formed with did, the main verb should stay in its base form, so speak, not spoke. Fronting the preposition to before the auxiliary is also the standard formal structure: To whom did you speak yesterday?

Thus, this sentence uses whom correctly as the object of the preposition and uses the correct verb form after did. The other options either use the subjective case (who) for the object of a preposition, place the preposition at the end in a way that’s less formal but acceptable only in casual speech, or mix up tense by using spoke after did.