Richard Linklater could cast only people to _____ the project was meaningful enough that they were willing to see it through.

Richard Linklater could cast only people to _____ the project was meaningful enough that they were willing to see it through.

• A. whom
• B. who
• C. that
• D. which

Answer: (A)

This tests using the correct relative pronoun after a preposition. The phrase needs to connect “people” with the idea that the project was meaningful to them, so the pronoun should be in the objective case after the preposition “to.” Therefore the formal choice is whom: people to whom the project was meaningful. Using who would treat the pronoun as the subject of the clause, which doesn’t fit the role here. That and which refer to things, and that isn’t used with a preposition in this construction. So the sentence reads most correctly with whom, keeping the relationship between the people and the meaning of the project clear and proper.

This tests using the correct relative pronoun after a preposition. The phrase needs to connect “people” with the idea that the project was meaningful to them, so the pronoun should be in the objective case after the preposition “to.” Therefore the formal choice is whom: people to whom the project was meaningful. Using who would treat the pronoun as the subject of the clause, which doesn’t fit the role here. That and which refer to things, and that isn’t used with a preposition in this construction. So the sentence reads most correctly with whom, keeping the relationship between the people and the meaning of the project clear and proper.