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This is the stone for which I have been looking.

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
Q1 Which sentences would be used? None?
(a) This is the stone for which I have been looking.
(b) He is the man for whom I have been waiting.
(c) He is the man to whom I look up.
(d) This is the baby after whom I have looked.
(e) That was something with which he could not put up.
(f) This is an important thing of which you should take notice.
(g) He is the very person with whom my father is always finding fault.

Q2 How about these?
(a) This is the stone which I have been looking for.
(b) He is the man whom I have been waiting for.
(c) He is the man whom I look up to.
(d) This is the baby whom I have looked after.
(e) That was something which he could not put up with.
(f) This is an important thing which you should take notice of.
(g) He is the very person whom my father is always finding fault with.

I know that the relative pronoun in each sentence should be omitted in colloquial forms.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
Q1 Which sentences would be used? None?
(a) This is the stone for which I have been looking.
(b) He is the man for whom I have been waiting.
(c) He is the man to whom I look up.
(d) This is the baby after whom I have looked.
(e) That was something with which he could not put up.
(f) This is an important thing of which you should take notice.
(g) He is the very person with whom my father is always finding fault.
All technically valid, all terrible. These are the kinds of constructions people who think ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong would suggest and they're really unnatural.

Q2 How about these?
(a) This is the stone which I have been looking for.
(b) He is the man whom I have been waiting for.
(c) He is the man whom I look up to.
(d) This is the baby whom I have looked after.
(e) That was something which he could not put up with.
(f) This is an important thing which you should take notice of.
(g) He is the very person whom my father is always finding fault with.
Much better. These are all perfectly constructed and very natural-sounding. Ignore those who tell you that they're wrong because they end with prepositions. They don't know what they're talking about.

Non-errors | Common Errors in English Usage and More | Washington State University
 
Agree with the above poster. I'd also add that nobody really uses 'whom' these days - I can't think of a sentence where the use of who/whom makes anything clearer. I would replace whom by who in every single sentence. If you are forced to teach who/whom by the fossils at the Ministry, at least mention to your students that 'who' is perfectly acceptable to nearly all native speakers.
 
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