誰を
解説 Definition
人について「誰を・誰に」と尋ねたり、その人を関係節で示したりする語。whoの目的格。
The objective form of who, used to ask which person receives an action or follows a preposition, and to introduce a relative clause referring to such a person. It is most common after prepositions and in formal English.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
he に対する him と同じように、who に対する whom は目的格だと覚えると定着しやすいです。答えが him や her になる質問なら whom が文法上の形です。特に to whom、with whom、for whom のような「前置詞＋whom」は改まった文で頻出します。日常会話では whom の代わりに who を使うこともあります。
Pair who with whom in the same way that he pairs with him. If a question could be answered with him or her, whom is the traditional object form: “Whom did you invite?”—“I invited him.” It is especially useful after a preposition in formal patterns such as to whom, with whom, and for whom. In ordinary conversation, speakers often use who instead when the preposition is not placed directly before it, but recognizing whom remains important for formal writing and carefully structured relative clauses.
例文
Whom did you invite to the party?
パーティーには誰を招待しましたか。
To whom should I send this letter?
この手紙は誰に送ればよいですか。
She is the person whom I met yesterday.
彼女が、私が昨日会った人です。
whom の類義語・関連語
whom の語源・成り立ち Etymology
古英語の疑問代名詞・関係代名詞 hwām に由来します。who の目的格として、動詞や前置詞の目的語を示します。現代の会話では単独の whom が who に置き換わることも多い一方、前置詞の直後や改まった文章では残っています。
Whom descends from Old English hwām, an inflected form of the interrogative and relative pronoun that became who. Earlier English marked grammatical case more extensively than modern English does. Whom preserves the objective-case distinction and traditionally functions as the object of a verb or preposition. Although who often replaces it in conversation, whom remains established after prepositions and in formal usage.
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