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Andrea
In this place there are many people "with who" I can speak ...
Is it right? How I have to translate the expression "con cui" in english? Thanks
Aug 27, 2020 2:45 PM
Answers · 8
2
The literal translation of the Italian 'con cui' is 'with whom'. This would make your sentence finish with the words '...people with whom I can speak'. Although this is grammatically correct, it is actually awkward and unnatural. The 'with whom' construction is reserved for fairly formal, complex constructions and is rarely used by native English speakers in everyday contexts.
Here are some more informal ways of saying this, in descending order of formality. Note that 'speak to' is probably more natural than 'speak with' in this context:
In this place there are many people who I can speak to.*
In this place there are many people that I can speak to.**
In this place there are many people I can speak to. ***
* Yes, we can end sentences with prepositions.
** Yes, we can use 'that' for people.
*** And yes, we can omit the relative object pronoun entirely.
All of the above are perfectly common and natural in everyday speech.
I hope that helps.
August 27, 2020
1
Grammatically correct: In this place there are many people with whom I can speak.
Colloquially, we say: In this place there are many people who I can speak with.
Technically, it should be "whom", especially with the original sentence structure. However, we usually just say "who" in every day speech, but please note that when doing so, the structure of the sentence changes and "with" comes at the end.
With whom are you going? (correct)
Who are you going with? (grammatically incorrect, but sounds natural, very common)
With who are you going? (incorrect and sounds weird. no one ever says it this way)
Whom are you going with? (arguably grammatically correct, sounds OK... uncommon)
By not separating the placement of the "with" and "who" in the sentence, it makes it very apparent that "who" is wrong in the phrase "with who". (Hope this isn't too confusing of an explanation.)
August 27, 2020
1
You're close. It's "with whom".
* "Who" is used when referring to the subject of a sentence.
* "Whom" is used when referring to the object of a verb or preposition.
In this case, it's used as the object of a preposition "with ..."
August 27, 2020
1
"with whom"
informal: there are many people here i can talk to..."
formal: "there are many people in this place with whom I can speak ..."
August 27, 2020
1
should be "with whom"
August 27, 2020
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Andrea
Language Skills
English, Italian
Learning Language
English
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