"It was Jane whom I admire the most" why is it "admire" instead of "admired"?

The only context I can think of this making sense in is if somebody was speculating about who the narrator admired and then guessed incorrectly and the narrator is letting you know that “they were incorrect…it was Jane whom I admire the most” Even then though I’d probably say admired but it doesn’t sound “incorrect” here to say admire

Typo

What it sounds like is that the speaker has been in contact with Jane in the past and coming to the realization in the present that they admired Jane then and still do. If "admired" was used, it would sound as if the admiration was *only* in the past. While most people are taught that verb tenses need to "agree" when learning English, it's just not true. It's considered a rule while learning because you're less likely to invoke confusion in yourself or others. If you know what you're doing and are using different verb tenses intentionally and in proper context, there's nothing grammatically wrong with it.

One is present tense -- the speaker still admires Jane. The other is past tense, suggesting the admiration is no longer there. Both are grammatically correct.

Not convinced that “whom” is correct here. “It was Jane for whom I had the greatest admiration” works, but in the given sentence - sounds wrong (EN-UK)

Does the speaker still admire Jane? The “was” could be referring to something else in that past, which is a piece missing from the context of this sentence

I can imagine a context like "I was walking in the park when I came upon a woman. It was Jane, whom I admire the most." So the quality of admiring would be attributive to the object, Jane, but it would require a comma and is also sort of bad writing.

Because Jane did it, but he still admires her.

Hmm. Probably a typo?  It would work if "whom I admire most" was offset by a comma: "It was Jane, whom I admire most."

Situationally dependent. If she's still alive, and you still admire her, it's "admire". If she's passed on, or is no longer in your life, or you no longer admire her, or you're talking about a fixed point in time or referencing a specific event, then it's "admired". "Jane is my most talented coworker. I admire her the most." vs "At my last job, this lady named Jane was easily my most talented coworker. I admired her the most."

Admire here means you currently admire Jane. I feel a lot of native speakers would also use past tense, but admired may not mean you continue to admire Jane in the present. This sentence feels incomplete to me as a native speaker. I feel there should be a comma after 'Jane' and 'most' followed by some action that Jane did. example: "It was Jane, whom I admire most, that made the decision." "Whom" in general is mostly left out of American English so even as a native, I am a bit fuzzy on how exactly to use it. The only time I have ever used someone use 'whom' in conversation they were being ironic, so I may not be the best to comment on this particular problem.

It should be admired

It's hard to say why that wording was chosen without any context, but that sentence is not necessarily grammatically incorrect. For example, if it is an answer to the question "which person you admire won the competition?" then it works.

Your book is wrong. The verbs was and admire need to match. You're right to be skeptical. It was Jane whom I admired. Even the use of whom is really antiquated. I'm not even sure if they teach whom other than some grammar schools in the UK. Can you check the first page of your book and tell me where it was printed and what year?

To my ears the tenses are mixed up here. And whilst probably more 'correct' you would wait a very long time for a modern English speaker to use 'whom' in this sentence. However: \- it was Jane whom I admired the most \- it is Jane whom I admire the most are the ways I would put the tenses. The whom/who issue can be avoided by omitting it entirely as the sentences still sound ok (to me) without it.

it reads weirdly to me. ‘was’ past tense but ‘admire’ present tense? sentences like these don’t really come up in natural conversation and i don’t think i’ve ever read it either. if it’s not a mistake, it might be some really old and antiquated grammar that’s almost never used

either "It was Jane whom I admired the most" or "It is Jane whom I admire the most" seem more correct to me not sure why you'd mix tenses

If “admired” Does it mean that now I don’t admire her or she is dead?

I admired Jane the most. (past tense). I admire Jane the most. (Present) Stop using whom and passive sentences. Passive sentences are those whom I admire least.

Without context it could maybe be a narrator answering a question about Jane. “Who stole my heart? It was Jane, who I admire the most, that stole my heart”

It sounds wrong to me. I would almost always say "…was…admired…" or "…is…admire…."

Your textbook may have a typo.

The whole sentence is a bit awkward. Who knows.

I don’t know. I would use “admired” unless there was some very nitpicky context. Is this sentence part of a conversation? What is the context?

“Admire” is still ongoing. “Admired” is past tense or spoken about a specific time/event.

The use of "whom" is somewhat unusual to a native speaker. To me it signals that the author is being perfectly grammatically correct or trying to make me think they are. But as others have pointed out, "admired" is past tense, indicating that Jane is no longer admired for one reason or another as opposed to "admire" indicating that it is happening in the present.

"It was Jane whom I admired" is correct, definitely oO Also: you would drop the "whom" most of the time. "It was Jane I admired the most". The "whom" sounds like you're the Queen of England :D Colloquially the "whom" sounds really weird. You wouldn't say that in everyday English.

Because, presumably, you admire her still.

You are correct. It should be "admired", past tense, to match the past tense of the "to be" verb 'was.'

They still admire Jane. "Admired" is past tense, and would imply Jane is dead or she's alive and no longed admirable to the speaker.