Most of whom or most of who?

Question

Which one is correct?
I am very uncertain about when to use "most of whom," "most of who," or "most of which."

Answer 1

a few more examples of how to use "most of whom" in sentences:

"The team consisted of 20 members, most of whom were experienced professionals."
In this sentence, "most of whom" is used to highlight that the majority of the team members were experienced professionals.

"The company organized a gathering for its employees, most of whom attended the event."
Here, "most of whom" is used to indicate that a large number of the company's employees attended the gathering.

"The school organized a field trip for the students, most of whom were excited about the opportunity."
In this example, "most of whom" emphasizes that the majority of the students were excited about the field trip.

"The conference attracted participants from various countries, most of whom were researchers and scholars."
Here, "most of whom" is used to specify that the majority of the conference participants were researchers and scholars.

"The group went on a hiking expedition, most of whom reached the summit successfully."
In this sentence, "most of whom" highlights that the majority of the group members were able to reach the summit during the hiking expedition.

In each of these examples, "most of whom" is used to introduce a relative clause that provides further information or description about the individuals in the group being discussed.

Here are some examples of how to use "most of which" in sentences:

"The library has a vast collection of books, most of which are in excellent condition."
In this sentence, "most of which" is used to indicate that the majority of the books in the library are in excellent condition.

"He owns a large collection of vintage cars, most of which are meticulously restored."
Here, "most of which" emphasizes that the majority of the vintage cars in his collection have been meticulously restored.

"The store sells a wide variety of products, most of which are imported from overseas."
In this example, "most of which" highlights that the majority of the products sold in the store are imported from other countries.

"She prepared a delicious meal with fresh ingredients, most of which came from her own garden."
Here, "most of which" specifies that the majority of the fresh ingredients used in the meal were sourced from her garden.

"The company launched several new products, most of which received positive reviews from customers."
In this sentence, "most of which" indicates that the majority of the new products introduced by the company received positive reviews from customers.

In these examples, "most of which" is used to introduce a relative clause that provides additional information or description about the objects or things being referred to. It highlights that the majority of the items mentioned possess the specified quality or characteristic.

Answer 2

The correct phrase is "most of whom."

"Most of whom" is used when referring to a majority or a large portion of a group of people. It is used to introduce a relative clause that provides additional information about the individuals being referred to.

For example:

"Most of whom attended the conference were scientists."
"She spoke to most of whom she had met before."

In these sentences, "most of whom" is followed by a relative clause ("attended the conference," "she had met before") that further describes or identifies the specific individuals within the larger group.

Using "most of who" would be grammatically incorrect. "Whom" is the objective form of "who" and is used when the relative pronoun functions as the object of a verb or preposition. Therefore, "most of whom" is the appropriate choice when referring to a majority of people.

Answer 3

"Who" is a subjective pronoun. It is used in the place of a subject in a sentence or phrase. For example "Who is coming to dinner?" ("Who" is the subject.)

"Whom" is an objective pronoun. It is used in the place of an object in a sentence or phrase. For example, "With whom are you coming to dinner?" ("Whom" is the object of the preposition, while "you" is the subject.)

Since "most of _____" is a prepositional phrase, the correct usage would be "most of whom." The phrase "most of who" should probably never be used.

Another way to think about the difference between the subjective/objective pronouns is to revise the sentence to include a personal pronoun and see which form (he/him or she/her or they/them) fit.

For example, take this sentence: "I have twelve co-workers, most of whom are British." Could you re-write it as two sentences: "I have twelve co-workers. Most of they are British?" Probably not! You would say "Most of them are British," because the "most of" prepositional construct takes an objective pronoun. I can't think of a case where it would take a subjective pronoun.

As to whether you would use "most of whom" or "most of which," both "who" and "which" are relative pronouns. "Who" is used to refer to people, while "which" is used to refer to animals and things. For example, "I have twelve co-workers, most of whom are French, and I have twelve wine bottles, most of which are empty."

Sometimes "which" might be used to refer to a group or crowd of people where individuality is less distinct. For example, "The crowd, most of which were local fans, cheered when the opposing pitcher got knocked unconscious by a line drive." I believe either "most of whom" or "most of which" could be used in that kind of sentence.