@NaturalBornTraveller said in #15:
> Regarding the error in the ToS, I did report it 6 months ago in the feedback section :-)
>
> ToS, under §Community Guideline Violations:
> "Impersonation - This is when a user pretends to be someone who they are not,"
>
> Whom is the object of the impersonation, and who is the subject that impersonates.
> So the correct word in this context should be "whom".
I’m sorry, @NaturalBornTraveller -- in the sentence you quoted above from the TOS, “who” is actually the right word, not “whom”. “Who they are not” is an adjective clause modifying the word “someone”. In that clause, “they” is the subject and “are” is the simple predicate, and it is also a linking verb. Therefore this situation calls for a pronoun in the nominative case, that is, “who”. Even native English speakers sometimes get confused with the grammar of pronouns, which is why people tend to overlook small errors. The TOS, however, as a legal document, should use standard English.
In that same clause, I would personally use the word “he” instead of “they”, since “user” is singular. But you should be aware that this isn't the current popular mode of handling this situation. The difficulty is that confusion can potentially occur when “they” is used to refer to a singular person, though in this sentence people understand the meaning so no harm is done (except to language fans like me – alas, a little part of my heart weeps when I see this in formal writing).
> An example for who/whom:
> Whom did I impersonate?
> Who impersonated me?
Here you gave good examples and used the right words. The first sentence calls for the objective case, “whom”, because it’s the direct object of the verb “impersonate”. The second sentence calls for the nominative case, “who”, because it’s the subject of the sentence.
English isn't an easy language to master as a second language yet many people here on Lichess, including you, communicate quite well, even managing to convey humor from time to time!
> Regarding the error in the ToS, I did report it 6 months ago in the feedback section :-)
>
> ToS, under §Community Guideline Violations:
> "Impersonation - This is when a user pretends to be someone who they are not,"
>
> Whom is the object of the impersonation, and who is the subject that impersonates.
> So the correct word in this context should be "whom".
I’m sorry, @NaturalBornTraveller -- in the sentence you quoted above from the TOS, “who” is actually the right word, not “whom”. “Who they are not” is an adjective clause modifying the word “someone”. In that clause, “they” is the subject and “are” is the simple predicate, and it is also a linking verb. Therefore this situation calls for a pronoun in the nominative case, that is, “who”. Even native English speakers sometimes get confused with the grammar of pronouns, which is why people tend to overlook small errors. The TOS, however, as a legal document, should use standard English.
In that same clause, I would personally use the word “he” instead of “they”, since “user” is singular. But you should be aware that this isn't the current popular mode of handling this situation. The difficulty is that confusion can potentially occur when “they” is used to refer to a singular person, though in this sentence people understand the meaning so no harm is done (except to language fans like me – alas, a little part of my heart weeps when I see this in formal writing).
> An example for who/whom:
> Whom did I impersonate?
> Who impersonated me?
Here you gave good examples and used the right words. The first sentence calls for the objective case, “whom”, because it’s the direct object of the verb “impersonate”. The second sentence calls for the nominative case, “who”, because it’s the subject of the sentence.
English isn't an easy language to master as a second language yet many people here on Lichess, including you, communicate quite well, even managing to convey humor from time to time!