Question

complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.
the children couldnt tear themselves away from the magician mr. buchanan hired for the birthday celebration.

Explanation:

The sentence has a relative clause "Mr. Buchanan hired for the birthday celebration" modifying "the magician". Since the relative pronoun is the object of "hired", we use "whom" (for people) or "that" (common in informal usage, but "whom" is more formal for a person as the object). Alternatively, "who" is sometimes used informally as the object, but "whom" is correct here. However, another common relative pronoun for an object in a relative clause referring to a person is "that" or "whom". But in this case, the correct relative pronoun (object of the verb "hired") referring to "the magician" (a person) is "whom" or "that" or "who" (informal). But the most appropriate formal one is "whom", but also "that" is acceptable. Wait, actually, when the relative pronoun is the object of the verb in the relative clause, we can use "whom", "that", or omit it. But since the blank is there, we need to put a relative pronoun. So the correct one is "whom" (for a person, object) or "that". But "whom" is more precise for a person. Alternatively, "who" is sometimes used, but "whom" is grammatically correct. Wait, let's analyze: the structure is "the magician (whom/that) Mr. Buchanan hired...". So the relative pronoun is the object of "hired", so "whom" (for people) or "that" (for people or things) or "who" (informal, as object). But in standard English, "whom" is correct for the object of a verb when referring to a person. So the best relative pronoun here is "whom" or "that" or "who" (but "whom" is more formal). However, another common answer is "that" or "whom". Wait, maybe the intended answer is "whom" or "that" or "who". But let's check: the sentence is "The children couldn't tear themselves away from the magician [relative pronoun] Mr. Buchanan hired for the birthday celebration." So the relative clause is "Mr. Buchanan hired [relative pronoun] for the birthday celebration", with "the magician" as the antecedent. So the relative pronoun is the direct object of "hired", so we can use "whom" (for people), "that" (for people or things), or omit it. But since we need to fill in the blank, we use "whom" or "that" or "who" (informal). But the most correct one for a person as the object is "whom". So the answer is "whom" (or "that" or "who", but "whom" is better).

Answer:

whom (or that, or who - but whom is the most grammatically correct for a person as the object of the verb in the relative clause)