what is the difference?

[gehan]

hello, please, can anyone tell me what is the difference between the next two sentences.

 

• Mr Lee , to whom i spoke at the meeting , is very interested in our proposal.
  
  
• Mr Lee, who i spoke to him at the meeting , is very interested in our proposal.
  
  

thanks.

[Nostril5]

'Whom' refers to the object of a sentence, but 'who' refers to the subject.

So...I spoke to Mr Lee.

so... Mr Lee, whom I spoke to, was from Australia....is a correct relative clause.

So...Mr Lee, to whom I spoke, was from Australia. ...is just a more formal way of saying the same thing. The reason here is an old rule that did not allow prepositions to end a clause (I think!).

In fact, 'whom' is rarely used by young native speakers. They will usually say, 'Mr Lee, who I spoke to, is from Australia.'

The second of your sentences (who I spoke to him) is incorrect.

 

I hope that is not too confusing.

Regards,

Mike

[gehan]

thanks a lot Mike>

it is really clear.