When do we use the word who and whom

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На самом деле, разницу между этими двумя местоимениями нужно понимать тем, кто больше связан с письменным английским. Потому как в речи разница будет едва заметна (современные говоруны не склонны выражаться витиеватыми сложноподчиненными предложениями). И вообще, мне кажется, что вас больше интересует, когда правильно употреблять WHOM ))

И тем не менее, давайте разбираться.

Для начала отметим, что корень непонимания кроется в двух словах: предмет и объект.

Итак, who относится к предмету в предложении, в то время, как whom — к объекту.

А теперь то же самое, только в примерах:

Who

По-русски who в данных случаях будет переводиться как обычное «кто?»

• Who is going? — Кто идет?
• Who are you? — Кто ты?
• This is who warned me. — Это тот, кто предупредил меня.
• Jack is the one who wants to go. — Джек — тот, кто как раз хочет пойти.
• Anyone who knows the truth should tell us. — Кто-либо, кто знает правду, должен  рассказать нам.

Whom

• Whom будет переводиться как «о ком», «с кем»… (короче говоря,все остальные падежи, кроме именительного)
• Whom is this story about? — О ком эта история?
• With whom are you going? — С кем ты собираешься пойти?
• Whom did they tell? — Кому они рассказали?
• This is the man whom I told you about. — Это тот человек, о котором (о ком) я тебе рассказывал.
• John is the man whom you met at dinner last week. — Джон — человек, кого ты встретил за ужином на прошлой неделе.

NB! Заметьте,что whom станет правильным выбором после предлогов: with whom, one of whom.

• The students, one of whom is graduating this year, failed the test. — Студенты, один из которых заканчивает учебу в этом году, провалили тест.
• Lisa is the girl with whom I’m driving to Maine. — Лиза — девушка, с которой я еду на машине в Мэйн.

И еще есть такое правило:

Rule

he = who
him = whom

Как и  whom,   местоимение Him оканчивается на m. Поэтому, когда вы не можете решить,что поставить: who или whom, спросите себя, что бы вы поставили на это место —  he или him.

Например:

«Who (or whom) do you love? — «ответом будет —  «I love him.» поэтому ставим whom.

«Who (or whom) stepped on Squiggly?» — ответом будет —  «He stepped on Squiggly.» Никакого м нет, поэтому ставим who.

Вот так. Надеюсь, разобрались)

What’s the difference between who and whom? These are two words that cause a lot of confusion, even for native-English speakers. So, it’s well worth taking a few minutes to know the difference between the two. Below, we’ve provided an easy guide on understanding the grammatical rules. We’ve also given some examples on how to use who and whom correctly. If you want to avoid mistakes in using who vs whom, read on.

Who vs whom: the grammar rules

The difference between who and whom explained

Easy tip to tell the difference between who and whom

How to use who and whom correctly: sentence examples (with an explanation)

Grammar Quiz: Who vs Whom in English language

The Advanced Who vs Whom

Grammar Quiz: Answer key

A lot of people have trouble on when to use the words who and whom. Mixing these words up can be relatively easy, and, if you confuse them too frequently, it can cause your writing to look sloppy.

So, in this post we’ll talk about the grammatical functions of who vs. whom as well as give you a few tricks to easily determine which word to use and when.

Now, to begin, both who and whom are pronouns, which means they are words used as substitutes for nouns. But even though they are both pronouns, they are used different in a sentence. Let’s take a look at each word.

When to Use Who

When do you use who? When who is used in a sentence, it takes the nominative form. That simply means that it acts as the subject of the sentence. For instance,

• Who ate the pizza?
• He ate the pizza.

In this example, who is acting as the subject of the sentence in the same way that he is.

When to Use Whom

When do you use whom? When whom is used in a sentence, it takes the objective form. That simply means that it acts as an object, either of a verb or preposition. For example,

• You called whom?
• You called him?
• I deliver the pizza to whom?
• I delivered the pizza to him.

In both of these examples, the word whom is acting as an object.

In the first set, the word whom is acting as the object of the verb “call.” Whom did you call? I called him. It describes the person you called.

In the second set, the word whom is acting as the object of the preposition “to.” To whom did you deliver the pizza? I delivered the pizza to him. It describes the person to whom you delivered the pizza (to him).

Problem Sentences

Now, determining the case (nominative or objective) of these words can sometimes be tricky because who and whom so often find themselves in the form of a question.

This makes their true function within the sentence hard to see unless you sort the words into a standard subject-verb-object sentence. To help with this, I suggest changing sentences like the following ones into “I should say who is calling?” to make them easier.

• Wrong: Whom should I say is calling?
• Correct: Who should I say is calling?

By changing these sentences into the form “I should say who is calling?” you can more clearly see identify the subject, verb, and object.

Another problem that arises when determining the proper case is when the pronoun serves a function (for example, nominative) in a clause that itself serves a different function (for example, objective) in the main clause.

In situations like these, the pronoun’s function within its own clause determines its case. For example,

• WRONG: Give it to whomever wants it.
• CORRECT: Give it to whoever wants it.
• WRONG: Whoever you choose is fine by me.
• CORRECT: Whomever you choose is fine by me.

In the first example above, the entire clause “whoever wants it” is the object of the preposition “to.” But, in the clause itself, “whoever” serves as the subject, and that function determines the case.

Similarly, in the second sentence “whomever” is the object of “choose” in the clause, so it must be in the objective case even though the clause itself serves as the subject of the sentence.

Tricks to Remember

Now that you know the functions of whom vs. who within a sentence, I can show you an easy trick that can speed up the process of determining their cases.

If you still don’t know when to use who or whom, try simply substituting the words he/him in the clause where the whom or who appears. If “him” sounds better than “he” in the clause, use “whom” because “him” and “whom” both end in and “m” For our above examples,

• Wrong: I should say him is calling.
• Correct: I should say he is calling.

“Him” does not work in this sentence which means that “he” or “who” is the correct choice.

Summary

In short, who and whom have specific functions in a sentence, and it’s important to use each word correctly.

• The word “who” acts as the subject of a sentence.
  • Who ate my pizza?
• The word “whom” acts as the object of a verb or preposition.
  • Whom are you calling?
  • To whom are you talking?
• You can substitute he/him for who/whom if you are having difficulties in determining their function within a sentence.

Who and whom are two words that sound very much alike. However, that similarity just makes when to use who vs. whom all the more confusing.

Main Who vs. Whom Takeaways:

• Who and whom are both pronouns.
• When you’re referring to the subject of the sentence, use who.
• Confirm you’re using the correct pronoun by replacing who with she/he/they.
• When your’re referring to the object, use whom.
• Confirm you’re using the correct pronoun by replacing whom with her/him/them.
• Sometimes you may have to break the who or whom rule to make your content more readable. Or, to prevent awkward and unnatural phrasing.

In this super easy guide, we’ll show you a few simple tricks to remember the difference and use both pronouns like a pro, every time. Also, you’ll see both in action with tons of who vs. whom examples. Don’t forget to test your skills with our quick quiz at the end of this article.

How Do You Use Whom?

You should use whom to refer to the object of a verb or a preposition. Here’s a quick and easy trick to be sure whom is the correct pronoun to use: Replace whom with him or her. If the sentence still makes sentence and is grammatically correct, thenyou know whom is the correct choice.

On the other hand, if he or she sounds better, then you should use who instead. You can remember this trick by associating the “m” in him with the “m” in whom. Another clue is to look for a preposition. For example, whom usually follows a preposition.

How Do You Use Whom in a Sentence?

Here are examples of how to use whom in a sentence:

Remember: The “m” in him goes with the “m” in whom. If you can answer the question with him, then use whom.

What’s the Difference Between Who’s and Whom?

Aside from spelling, who’s and whom have different functions in a sentence. To begin with, who’s is a contraction. Meaning, it’s a two-word term joined together by an apostrophe. It could mean who is or who has. On the other hand, whom is a pronoun and often acts as the object of a verb or preposition.

Here are some examples of how to use who’s in a sentence:

Who vs. Whom: They/Them?

Just like you can use he/him to confirm whether to use who/whom, you can also use they/them. This is because who and whom can represent singular pronouns like he and him as well as plural pronouns like they and them. For plural pronouns, replace who with they. If the sentence is still grammatically correct, then you know that who is the correct pronoun. Conversely, if them sounds better, then you know that whom is the correct pronoun to use.

Remember: If you can replace who or whom with he/she/they, then you should be using who.

Who vs. Whom Example Sentences?

1. Is Many of Whom Correct?

Yes, the phrase many of whomis correct to use whom instead of who. This is because you should use whom to refer to object of a verb or preposition. Since of is a preposition, whomis the correct pronoun to follow it. Another way you can confirm if whom is correct is to replace it with another pronoun like him, her, or them. If the sentence is still grammatically correct, then whom is correct.

2. Who or Whom I Worked With?

The ideal answer is with whom I worked. Whom goes with the object of the verb or preposition in a sentence. Since this phrase contains the preposition with, the most correct way to craft this sentence is using whom. Test if whomis correct by replacing it with him. Does the sentence still make sense? Then whom is the best pronoun to use.

3. Who I Live With or Whom I Live With?

Whom I live with or with whom I live are the correct ways to phrase this. The rule is that who refers to the subject of the sentence while whom refers to object of the verb and or the preposition. Here, we have the preposition with and the verb live. Both of these refer to the person you live with, not the subject of the sentence (I). For this reason, whom is the correct pronoun. Confirm this by rewriting the sentence to use the pronouns him/her/them. If the sentence is still correct, then you know that whom is the correct choice.

4. Who I Admire or Whom I Admire?

Here, the correct answer is whom I admire.This is because we use whom to refer to the object of a preposition or verb. In this phrase, there is no preposition. However, there is a verb: admire. Whom is the object of this verb. In other words, whom receives the action of you admiring. You can confirm that whom is correct because you can replace it with him and the sentence is still grammatically correct.

5. Who I Hate or Whom I Hate?

For this example, whom I hate is the correct phrasing. This is because whom usually refers to the object of a preposition or a verb. We don’t have a preposition in this phrase. But, we do have the verb hate. What’s more, whom is receiving the action of hate. This makes whom the object of the hate.

Since whom is used for the object of a verb, we know that whom is the correct choice here. Confirm this by replacing whom with her or him. If the sentence is still grammatically correct, then whom is the right pronoun to use. If not, then you should use who.

6. Who or Whom Did You See?

Even though you often hear who did you see in everyday conversations, the most grammatically correct answer is whom did you see. Whom refers to the object of the preposition or verb in a sentence. This sentence doesn’t have a preposition, but it does have a verb: see. What’s more, this verb refers to the person you saw (the object), and not you (the subject).

Usually, who refers to the subject. Since whom refers to the object of a verb, it’s the correct pronoun to use in this sentence. One way to confirm this is to rewrite the sentence using him or her. If the sentence is still correct, then you confirm that whom is the correct pronoun.

7. Who or Whom I’ve Never met?

The correct phrasing here is whom I’ve never met. The reason is that whom typically refers to the object of a sentence’s preposition or verb. In other words, whom receives the action.

On the other hand, who usually refers to the subject. This phrase doesn’t feature a preposition, but it does have the verbs have and met. Have is a linking verb, so it’s not showing any action.

However, met is an action verb and is acting on whom. As a result, whom receives the action. The verb met refers to the object (whom) and not the subject (I). Therefore, we know that whom is the correct pronoun. Verify this by rewriting the sentence to substitute whom with she or he.

8. Who We Miss or Whom We Miss?

Whom we miss is correct, not who we miss. Who refers to the subject whilewhom refers to the object of the preposition or verb. We is the subject.

However, the verb miss doesn’t refer to the subject we. Instead, it refers to the person you miss. This means that the person you miss is an object of the verb miss. For this reason, whom is the correct pronoun to refer to the person you miss.

Test this by rewriting the sentences to replace whom with the pronouns him, her, or they. Is the sentence still grammatically correct? If it is, then the correct answer is whom. If it’s not, then you should use who instead.

9. Who or Whom I Love so Much?

The correct way to phrase this whom I love so much,not who I love so much. We know that whom is correct because this pronoun refers to the object of a preposition or verb. We may not have a preposition, but we have the verb love. This verb refers to the person being loved (object), and not the I, or the person doing the loving (subject).

Since who refers to the subject while whom refers to the object of the verb, whom is correct. Check that whom is the correct pronoun by rewriting the sentence with him,her, or them. If the sentence is still grammatically correct with one of these other pronouns, then you know whom is correct. However, if he, she, or they fit better, then you know who is correct.

10. Who or Whom Wants Ice Cream?

Who wants ice cream is the correct way to phrase this sentence. The best way to confirm that who is the correct pronoun is to replace it with he/she/they. Does the sentence still make sense? Is it still grammatically correct? If yes, then you know who is correct. If no, then you should use whom.

What’s more, use who to refer to the subject of the sentence. Another way we know that who wants ice cream is correct option is because the subject of the sentence is who.

11. Is it “Who to Ask” or “Whom to Ask”?

The grammatically correct way to phrase this is whom to ask. The phrase to ask really means should I ask. Whenever we need a pronoun that refers to the subject, we use who.

However, when we need one that refers to the object of a preposition or a verb, we use whom. Here, the implied verb shouldrefers to implied subject I. So, now we need a pronoun to go with the verb ask.

Sincewhom refers to the object of the verb and not the subject, we know that whom is the correct pronoun. An easy way to confirm this is to rephrase the sentence using him/her/them. These work as substitutes for whom while he/she/they work for who.

12. Who to Follow or Whom to Follow?

Although the majority of people would probably say who, whom to follow is correct. This is because the phrase to follow actually means should I follow. Therefore, the implied verb should refers to implied subject I.

Since we use who to refer to the subject, we can rule out who. Instead, we use whom to refer to the object of the preposition or verb. Specifically, we need an object for the verb follow. This is why whom is the correct answer.

Easily verify this is by rephrasing the sentence using him/her/them. You can use these pronouns as substitutes for whom and the existence will remain correct. Similarly use he/she/they for who.

13. Who Should you Invite to the Party?

Even though most people would use who, the grammatically correct way to phrase this sentence is Whom should you invite to the party. The trick to know with certainty that the answer is whom is to rephrase the sentence using him/her/them. This is because we use whom to refer to the object of a preposition or verb, and these pronouns can substitute whom.

Conversely, we use who to refer to the subject of the sentence, and he/she/they can substitute who. In this example, the verb shouldrefers to the subject you. However, we need an object for the verb invite. Therefore, whom is the best fit.

Whom: Death of a Pronoun

Many modern grammarians consider whomto be a dying word.

It wouldn’t be the first pronoun to fall out of use, either. Others that have gone before it include thy, thine, ye, and thee. Although they may still show up in religious writing, they’ve fallen out of common use.

Although whom and whomever still have a place in formal writing, they are no longer common in spoken English. Many publications have also ceased using them. Instead, they opt to rephrase sentences to include easier-to-digest pronouns such as him, her, and them.

Who vs. Whom Recap

Who and whom are both pronouns. Depending on your sentence structure, you can easily determine which one to choose.

Ask yourself the following:

• Are you referring to the subject of the sentence? If so, use the pronoun who.
• Is the object of the sentence what you’re referring to? If so, use the pronoun whom.

Here’s a trick that you can use if you get stuck. When deciding on whom vs. who, think of it as him vs he.

• If you can answer the question with “he,” you’ll want to use who—no “m” at the end!
• However, if you can answer the query with “him,” you’ll want to use whom. They both have an “m” at the end!

But wait! What if you’re talking about a lady instead of a gentleman? No worries—we only used “he” or “him” because it makes it easier to highlight the “m” connection. While “whom“or“him” is a quick and memorable mnemonic device, the same idea applies to “she” or “her.”

• If you can answer the question with “she,” you’ll want to use who.
• On the other hand, if the answer to the question is “her,” you’ll want to use whom.

Ready to Dominate This Who vs. Whom Quiz?

Read More: ??‍♀️ Whoever vs. Whomever: The Easiest Guide on When to use Which Pronoun

The difference between “who” and “whom” can be tricky, even for experienced writers. The word “whom” is rarely used in casual conversation anymore, so “who” often sounds correct, even when it isn’t.

Once you know how these relative pronouns are meant to work in a sentence, you’ll be on your way to correctly choosing between who and whom—or on your way to mindfully breaking the rules. Let’s dive in, shall we?

What’s the difference between who and whom?

Put simply, “who” is the person who does an action, and “whom” is the person who receives the action or its effects.

In grammatical terms, “who” is a subjective pronoun, meaning it refers to the subject of a sentence or clause:

In Rich’s question, the word “who” refers to Aunt Marianne, the subject of Hannah’s sentence. In contrast, “whom” is an objective pronoun, meaning it refers to the object of a verb (an action word) or preposition (a word that indicates relationship, direction, time, place, or location):

As Aunt Marianne helpfully pointed out, Rich is the object of the verb phrase in her sentence, so Hannah refers to him using the objective pronoun “whom.”

In order to confidently master the use of who versus whom in complex sentences, it helps to also understand the purpose of relative pronouns.

Relative pronouns and how they work

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the concept of relative pronouns, you’ve definitely used them before: the most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that.

A relative pronoun is a word that connects a bit of descriptive information to a person, place, or thing. “Who” and “whom” are relative pronouns that typically refer to a person, while “which” and “that” are relative pronouns that typically refer to a place or thing.

Example:

Sarah, who is an award-winning journalist, broke the story of the scandal.

Sarah is the subject of the sentence, and the part of the sentence where we’re told that she’s an award-winning journalist is what’s called an adjective clause. The relative pronoun “who” connects it to the subject of the sentence, Sarah.

“Whom” also connects adjective clauses to something.

Example:

She concealed the name of her source, from whom she got a scoop about the disgraced Mayor.

Here, the relative pronoun “whom” connects the adjective clause in the sentence to the object of the sentence: Sarah’s source.

Now that we know that both “who” and “whom” connect descriptions to things, let’s take a look at the rules for deciding when to use “who” and “whom.”

The rule of who

We’ve learned that “who” is a subjective pronoun because it refers to the subject of a sentence or clause, which is the person or thing doing an action. The simplest rule is that if we rephrase a sentence into a question, “who” can be swapped with other subjective pronouns such as I, he, she, we, or they.

Example:

See how we turned the phrase into a question that we are only able to answer correctly using “she”? That means that the right choice for our original sentence is “who.”

It’s not possible to answer the question using “her”; the answer to “Whom broke the story?” can’t be “her did”–that obviously sound wrong.

Since we used “she” in our rephrased question, “who” is the right choice in our original sentence. If we had been able to answer our rephrased question with “I,” “he,” “we,” or “they” instead of “she,” then “who” would also have been correct.

The rule of whom

In turn, “whom” is an objective pronoun because it refers to the object of a verb or preposition. The object is usually a person to whom an action is being done. Therefore, if we can rephrase a sentence into a question that we wish to answer, “whom” can be swapped with other objective pronouns such as me, him, her, us, or them.

Example:

In this example, we rephrased the sentence into a question, and that question can only be answered with “me.” The answer to “From who did Sarah learn about the scandal?” can never be “from I” or “from he”–those sounds wrong. Therefore, “whom” is the right choice for the original sentence.

Another tip to remember is that “whom” is always the correct pronoun to follow any preposition. The prepositions from, to, with, and by are commonly followed by “whom.”

Example:

Examples of when to use who and whom

Now that we’ve learned the rules, let’s take a look at some more examples of who vs. whom to help you apply these rules to your writing. The examples that follow are common conundrums when it comes to who vs. whom.

By who or by whom?

Let’s say you heard a song on the radio, and you’d like to ask about the name of the artist.

You probably wouldn’t ask “By who is this song?”, simply because that sounds incorrect to a native English speaker’s ear.

You could probably ask “Who is this song by?” without being corrected, even though ending the sentence with a preposition (by) is technically incorrect.

Even though it sounds more formal, the grammatically correct phrasing is “By whom is this song?” This is because “by” is a preposition, and as we learned above, “whom” (not “who”) always follows a preposition.

For who or for whom?

Have you read Hemingway’s novel For Who the Bell Tolls? No, you haven’t—because “for” is acting as a preposition, so the correct title of the book is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

To expand on this example, let’s use the trick we learned above and answer Hemingway’s title as if it were a question, keeping in mind the rule about subjective and objective pronouns.

If you asked “for whom does the bell toll?” The answer could be that it tolls for me, him, her, us, or them (or, as poet John Donne famously wrote, it tolls for thee). Since only objective pronouns can replace the relative pronoun here, the relative pronoun should also be objective (in other words, whom).

So, “for who does the bell toll?” It definitely doesn’t toll for I, he, she, we, or they. Since the question cannot be correctly answered using a subjective pronoun, the relative pronoun cannot be subjective (in other words, who).

How strict is the who vs. whom rule?

You’ve probably noticed that any use of “whom,” even when it’s correct, sounds formal and maybe even a little dated. That’s because this rule has fallen out of favor for casual English speakers, who might ask “Who is this song by?” or “Who is the bell tolling for?” or even “Who did Sarah get that scandalous scoop from?!”

Despite this, it’s still best practice to use “who” and “whom” correctly in written communications for the sake of clarity. While it’s uncommon, it’s possible for incorrect relative pronouns to confuse your reader and obscure your intended meaning.

If you’re writing dialogue, however, an intentionally fudging this rule can make a character sound more casual, or if your setting is modern, can make dialogue sound more authentic. Just be sure to use who vs. whom correctly in your narration (as opposed to your characters’ dialogue) so that your prose is clear and unambiguous.

Who vs. whom: the final verdict

Next time you find yourself in doubt over when to use who vs. whom, remember the rule of thumb that if you rephrase your sentence, who can only be replaced by he/she and whom can only be replaced by him/her (or whichever other pronouns, like I/me or they/them, make sense in the sentence you’re working on). It’s a simple rule, but it’s easy to remember and it works every time!

The first important thing to know is that the Relative Pronoun ‘Whom‘ is only used in Formal English. In Informal English we generally avoid using ‘Whom’ by phrasing our sentences in ways that make it unnecessary.

It is also important to know the different between a Subject Pronoun and an Object Pronoun. Consider this sentence:

John emailed Ann. 

In this sentence, John is the Subject. John does the action. John writes and sends an email. Ann is the Object in the sentence. Ann doesn’t do an action. Ann is the person who receives the action.

In Informal English, the Relative Pronoun ‘Who’ can be used as both a Subject Pronoun and an Object Pronoun, whereas in Formal English the Relative Pronoun ‘Who’ is used as a Subject Pronoun, but the pronoun ‘Whom’ is used as an Object Pronoun.

For example:
That is the man who got the job.

In this sentence ‘The man’ is the noun, ‘who got the job’ is the relative clause.

‘The man’ did the action and so he is the Subject of the sentence. Therefore, we use the relative pronoun ‘who’ when we describe the subject (‘The man’).

We use the relative pronoun ‘whom’ when the relative pronoun is the Object of the verb it follows.

For example:
‘This is the man whom Ben met last week’

In this example, Ben is the subject of the sentence. Ben did the action. He met the man. In this sentence we have to use the relative pronoun ‘whom’ to describe ‘the man’ because ‘the man’ is the object of the verb.

Here is another example:
Whom did Maria meet last night?

In this sentence Maria is the subject. Maria did the action. The person Maria met is the Object of the sentence. For this reason, we can use the relative pronoun ‘Whom’ in this sentence.

Remember, we only use the pronoun ‘Whom’ in Formal English. If we are using Informal English then we simply use the pronoun ‘who’ in each case. (That is the man who got the job – This is the man who Ben met last week – Who did Maria meet last night?)