Charles_TP7

I was talking with a friend of mine from Italy about my TEFL program and he mentioned that he needed some help with a certain construction in English. Since we were already on campus I told him that I tutor students and that I could help him out for free right now if he would like. He agreed so we just started right from there. He needed help with “like” vs “as if” constructions and “who” vs “whom.” Now, my friend is an advanced English speaker but over time some of these concepts have become lost and confusing to him based on the popular misuse of them.

We started with like and as if because I thought this was easier to explain. I took out a piece of paper and stated to write down some examples. I explained that “like” is a preposition and should not be used as a conjunction. “As if” is always used as a conjunction and usually followed by verbs. Some examples that I wrote were “he looks like his father” and “he plays like Cristiano Ronaldo.” Then I rewrote the sentences to accept “as if” properly. “it’s as if he is his father” and “it’s as if he is faster than Cristiano Ronaldo.” 

This seemed to make a lot of sense. I always explained that when in doubt just use “like” when talking about appearances and simple sentences. Anything more complex will most likely require “as if” unless it calls strictly for a preposition. 

For “who” vs “whom” I explained that “who” is always used to refer to the subject of a sentence or clause and “whom” is always used to refer to the object. I used the example “whom were you talking to.” Explaining that “you” is the subject and whomever you were talking to is the object. Another little trick that I explained was the “him” trick. I read this a long time ago after I watched an episode of The Office that mentioned who vs whom. The him trick is as follows, the word “him” ends with an “m” much like whom does. If the question can be answered with “him” then whom is able to be used. For example, “who/whom did you talk to?” The question can be answered with “him” so whom should be used. 

Both of these concepts were received well by my friend. I have noticed how my communication with my tutees has been improving along with my ability to convey ideas and grammatical concepts.