"Of which" or "of whom"? I know I should know this

Chris P · Aug 6, 2011

I thumbed through my CMOS and although I'm sure it's in there, I couldn't find it. Which is correct:

"The keynote address was followed by invited speakers, one of which was Dianne Wyatt, Lou Tate's replacement at the EPA."

OR

"The keynote address was followed by invited speakers, one of whom was Dianne Wyatt, Lou Tate's replacement at the EPA."

"Of which" sounds better, but because "speakers" are people, "of whom" seems like it would be more correct.

Bracken · Aug 6, 2011

of whom, I think.

blacbird · Aug 6, 2011

The general principle is that "who" and "whom" are used when the reference is to a person, "which" when the reference is to something else. You may find exceptions, but you can't go wrong following the principle.

caw

pegasus · Aug 6, 2011

"One of whom" would be my strong preference.

Lil · Aug 6, 2011

I would go with "of whom." I know I'm a bit old-fashioned, but it always sounds wrong to me when "which" is used to refer to people.

Snick · Aug 6, 2011

The cawing gave the right answer. Sometimes people refer to things as if they were people and vice versa.

bonitakale · Aug 8, 2011

Chris P said:
I thumbed through my CMOS and although I'm sure it's in there, I couldn't find it. Which is correct:

"The keynote address was followed by invited speakers, one of which was Dianne Wyatt, Lou Tate's replacement at the EPA."

OR

"The keynote address was followed by invited speakers, one of whom was Dianne Wyatt, Lou Tate's replacement at the EPA."

"Of which" sounds better, but because "speakers" are people, "of whom" seems like it would be more correct.

Whom. But I think your problem is that you have a thing (the keynote address) followed by a person (the speaker). If you had written, "Adamson was followed by invited speakers, one of whom was Dianne Wyatt, Lou Tate's replacement at the EPA," you'd have no question about the sound. Or, "The keynote address was followed by several others, one of which was given by Dianne Wyatt, Lou Tate's replacement at the EPA."

"Of which" or "of whom"? I know I should know this

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

Bracken

blacbird

pegasus

practical experience, FTW

Lil

Snick

bonitakale