Prepositions + whom/which
You can use a
preposition before
whom (for people) and
which (for things). So you can say:
to whom /
with whom /
about which /
without which etc. :
- Mr Lee, to whom I spoke at the meeting, is very interested in our proposal.
- Fortunately we had a good map, without which we would have got lost.
In informal English we often keep the preposition after the verb in the relative clause. When we do this, we normally use
who (
not whom) for people:
- This is my friend from Canada, who I was telling you about.
- Yesterday we visited the City Museum, which I'd never been to before.
All of / most of etc. + whom/which
Study these examples:
Helen has three brothers. All of them are married. (2 sentences)
→ Helen has three brothers, all of whom are married. (7 sentence)
They asked me a lot of questions. I couldn't answer most of them. (2 sentences)
They asked me a lot of questions, most of which I couldn't answer. (1 sentence)
In the same way you can say:
none of / neither of / any of / either of
some of / many of / much of / (a) few of
both of / half of / each of / one of / two of etc. | + whom (people)
+ which (things) |
- Martin tried on three jackets, none of which fitted him.
- Two men, neither of whom I had seen before, came into the office.
- They have three cars, two of which they rarely use.
- Sue has a lot of friends, many of whom she was at school with.
You can also say
the cause of which /
the name of which etc. :
- The building was destroyed in a fire, the cause of which was never established.
- We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the name of which I can't remember now.
Which (not what)
Study this example:
In this example,
which = 'the fact that he got the job'. You must use
which (
not what) in sentences like these:
- Sarah couldn't meet us, which was a shame. (not what was a shame)
- The weather was good, which we hadn't expected. (not what we hadn't expected)
For what, see Units 920 and 930.
