the acquaintances...

[vaibhavsharma1988]

Book- ManhattanGMAT prep-the new standard 4th edition
page no. 114 Modifiers problem set

question 11: The aquaintances who we like most are those that flatter us best.

solution : The aquaintances whom we like most are those who flatter us best.

I am having problem in identifying the object and subject of the verb.How to do this please explain me.

[tim]

The primary S-V-O combination is acquaintances-are-those; i'm guessing that's not the one you had trouble with..

The secondary S-V-O combination is we-like-whom, and whom=acquaintances..

You can usually tell on these by identifying the verb first: LIKE. Now who is doing the liking? WE are. Now what do we like? ACQUAINTANCES. Of course, ACQUAINTANCES here has been replaced by a pronoun. That's exactly why we need WHOM rather than WHO, because it is an object..

[autumnmayrei]

GOOD EXPLANATION

The primary S-V-O combination is acquaintances-are-those; i'm guessing that's not the one you had trouble with..

The secondary S-V-O combination is we-like-whom, and whom=acquaintances..

You can usually tell on these by identifying the verb first: LIKE. Now who is doing the liking? WE are. Now what do we like? ACQUAINTANCES. Of course, ACQUAINTANCES here has been replaced by a pronoun. That's exactly why we need WHOM rather than WHO, because it is an object..

[tim]

thanks..