IPMAT Indore 2019 (VA) - After sensing a problem with the factory workers, the personnel officer demanded to know <u>who the union leaders had contacted</u> to conduct the petition drive. | PYQs + Solutions

IPMAT Indore 2019

Sentence Correction

Easy

After sensing a problem with the factory workers, the personnel officer demanded to know who the union leaders had contacted to conduct the petition drive.

whom the union leaders had contacted

who had the union leaders had contacted

whom the union leaders have contacted

who union leaders contacted

Correct Option: 1

whom the union leaders had contacted
- Correct. "Whom" is the object form of "who" and is appropriate here as it's the object of the verb "contacted". The past perfect tense "had contacted" is correct, matching the context.
who had the union leaders had contacted
- Incorrect. This is grammatically confused. It incorrectly uses "who" as the subject and object, and redundantly uses "had" twice.
whom the union leaders have contacted
- Incorrect tense. While "whom" is correct, "have contacted" (present perfect) doesn't match the past tense context of the sentence.
who union leaders contacted
- Acceptable in casual speech, but not ideal for formal writing. It uses "who" instead of "whom" and omits "the" and "had", making it less precise.

Key points:

"Whom" is used as the object of a verb or preposition. "Who" is used as the subject.
The past perfect tense ("had contacted") is appropriate here to describe an action completed before another past action.
In formal writing, using "whom" correctly is important, though "who" is often used in both subject and object positions in casual speech.