Pronomes relativos em inglês: Somebody That I Used To Know

ernando 2
I was just thinking of the song from Gotye called "Somebody That I Used To Know" and comes to my mind that its title and the chorus are grammatically wrong because it must be "Somebody Whom I Used To Know". Am I right?


Please correct my wrongs. :)

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ernando escreveu:I was just thinking of the song from Gotye called "Somebody That I Used To Know" and comes to my mind that its title and the chorus are grammatically wrong because it must be "Somebody Whom I Used To Know". Am I right?


Please correct my wrongs. :)

Yes, since that 'somebody' is the object to the verb. However, not only do english speaker easily allow "licenças poéticas" (not quite sure if 'poetic excuse/license is a valid expression in english) for songs, as there are also a few other that have mistakes (Can recall of Ringo Starr's It Don't Come Easy: and George Harrison's When We Was Fab


I don't think, however, 'wrongs' was aproppriate in such situation;

Thefreedictionary.com lists this as proper meanings for Wrong (substantive)

1.
a. An unjust or injurious act.
b. Something contrary to ethics or morality.
2.
a. An invasion or a violation of another's legal rights.
b. Law A tort. See Synonyms at injustice.


I don't think in your case either of these definitions would fit well, so I'd say "Please, correct my mistakes" or "Please, correct me if I'm wrong"
Donay Mendonça 23 127 1.7k
Dica:

Na sentença "somebody that I used to know", o uso do "that" é correto e natural. Você pode ainda omitir "that" dizendo "somebody I used to know". "Whom" me parece a menos comum das opções mencionadas por mim e eu não a usaria.


Bons estudos!
Fazendo uma emenda ao meu próprio discurso, na pressa não reparei que o original era "somebody that I used to know", e pensava que fosse "somebody who I used to know".

Como o Donay dissse, o that é completamente natural.
ernando 2
Rodzilla escreveu:
ernando escreveu:I was just thinking of the song from Gotye called "Somebody That I Used To Know" and comes to my mind that its title and the chorus are grammatically wrong because it must be "Somebody Whom I Used To Know". Am I right?


Please correct my wrongs. :)

Yes, since that 'somebody' is the object to the verb. However, not only do english speaker easily allow "licenças poéticas" (not quite sure if 'poetic excuse/license is a valid expression in english) for songs, as there are also a few other that have mistakes (Can recall of Ringo Starr's It Don't Come Easy: and George Harrison's When We Was Fab


I don't think, however, 'wrongs' was aproppriate in such situation;

Thefreedictionary.com lists this as proper meanings for Wrong (substantive)

1.
a. An unjust or injurious act.
b. Something contrary to ethics or morality.
2.
a. An invasion or a violation of another's legal rights.
b. Law A tort. See Synonyms at injustice.


I don't think in your case either of these definitions would fit well, so I'd say "Please, correct my mistakes" or "Please, correct me if I'm wrong"
Rodzilla, I know a song which the singer sings "I never needed you to pointing out my wrongs" and that's why I get used to the word "wrongs" meaning "erros" in Portuguese. But that's not the first time someone warned me about this use of that word. Well, going online and searching a bit I found out that the word "wrongs" could be used the way I use it. But I'm still not sure about it. Could anyone with a bit more of experience explain it to me?
ernando escreveu:
Rodzilla escreveu:
ernando escreveu:I was just thinking of the song from Gotye called "Somebody That I Used To Know" and comes to my mind that its title and the chorus are grammatically wrong because it must be "Somebody Whom I Used To Know". Am I right?


Please correct my wrongs. :)

Yes, since that 'somebody' is the object to the verb. However, not only do english speaker easily allow "licenças poéticas" (not quite sure if 'poetic excuse/license is a valid expression in english) for songs, as there are also a few other that have mistakes (Can recall of Ringo Starr's It Don't Come Easy: and George Harrison's When We Was Fab


I don't think, however, 'wrongs' was aproppriate in such situation;

Thefreedictionary.com lists this as proper meanings for Wrong (substantive)

1.
a. An unjust or injurious act.
b. Something contrary to ethics or morality.
2.
a. An invasion or a violation of another's legal rights.
b. Law A tort. See Synonyms at injustice.


I don't think in your case either of these definitions would fit well, so I'd say "Please, correct my mistakes" or "Please, correct me if I'm wrong"
Rodzilla, I know a song which the singer sings "I never needed you to pointing out my wrongs" and that's why I get used to the word "wrongs" meaning "erros" in Portuguese. But that's not the first time someone warned me about this use of that word. Well, going online and searching a bit I found out that the word "wrongs" could be used the way I use. But I'm still not sure about it. Could anyone with a bit more of experience explain it to me?
Let's try other dictionaries and cross the definitions among them.

Do cambridge online:

what is considered to be morally unacceptable
He has no sense of right and wrong.
I was brought up to tell the truth and know right from wrong.
As far as her parents are concerned, she can do no wrong (= she is perfect in every way).

[C] an unfair action
He has done us a great wrong.
She was trying to right (= do something to make better) the wrongs of the past.

in the wrong
If someone is in the wrong, they have made a mistake or done something which is bad or illegal

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/diction ... sh/wrong_6

E do Oxford:

1 [uncountable] behaviour that is not honest or morally acceptableChildren must be taught the difference between right and wrong.Her son can do no wrong in her eyes.2 [countable] (formal) an act that is not legal, honest or morally acceptableIt is time to forgive past wrongs if progress is to be made.


Idioms
in the wrong
responsible for an accident, a mistake, an argument, etc

http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries ... ry/wrong_3

as you can see, even if it may be used just where 'mistake' could be used, wrong has a moral meaning whereas mistake does not have any.

So, in your exemple, his wrongs were, probably, imoral actions (which could be just mistreating his friends and family). And if you think well, when we do some kind of stuff like that, even if we feel bad, we don't want no one telling us we were wrong.

I don't think that in your case (the possibility of having said something wrong in a internet forum) the word 'wrong' applies.


But please, do remember that "wrong" can also be an adjective, and as an adjective it may be free of any moral meaning, and will relate to "mistakes".

So, like I said, either "Please, correct my mistakes" or "Correct me if I'm wrong"
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ernando 2
Thank you for the explanation Rodzilla and Donay!
Henry Cunha 3 18 190
Here's why "that" is not wrong:

I used to know somebody who went to Brazil.
I used to know somebody that went to Brazil.
I used to know that person who went to Brazil.

Somebody who I used to know went to Brazil.
...


You need a complete sentence to see why it works the way it does.
ernando 2
Someone agrees with me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mDDvG3L0iM

It's a funny video about grammar, and it's made from the song "Somebody That I Used To Know", in the chorus she (the singer) asks herself "Why isn't this Somebody Whom I Used To Know". :D
Henry Cunha 3 18 190
O fragmento "that I used to know" é uma cláusula restritiva. Ela identifica o "somebody" em questão. Em inglês, "a defining relative clause".

Please take a close look at http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/ ... auses.html

Vale notar que "whom" não aparece nem uma vez nessa discussão.
Henry Cunha escreveu:O fragmento "that I used to know" é uma cláusula restritiva. Ela identifica o "somebody" em questão. Em inglês, "a defining relative clause".

Please take a close look at http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/ ... auses.html

Vale notar que "whom" não aparece nem uma vez nessa discussão.

Mas aparece o 'Who', que é a mesma coisa.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/whom

whom [huːm]
pron
the objective form of who, used when who is not the subject of its own clause