Understand the difference between who and whom. Both who and whom are pronouns. However, "who" is used as the subject of a sentence or phrase, to denote who is doing something (like he or she). On the other hand, "whom" is used as the object of a verb, to denote who has something done to it (like him or her). While a preposition (at, by, for, in, with, etc.) often comes before "whom", this is not always the case, so the key question is to ask "who is doing what to whom". What follows is a quick way to determine which pronoun to use in a particular question
Use whom when referring to the object of a verb.
- To whom it may concern:
- To whom did you talk today?
- Whom does Sarah love?
Use who when referring to the subject of a sentence or phrase.
- Who brought the paper inside?
- Who talked to you today?
- Who went to dinner?
- Who ate the cake?
Using Who and Whom Correctly
Understand the difference between who and whom. Both who and whom are pronouns. However, "who" is used as the subject of a sentence or phrase, to denote who is doing something (like he or she). On the other hand, "whom" is used as the object of a verb, to denote who has something done to it (like him or her). While a preposition (at, by, for, in, with, etc.) often comes before "whom", this is not always the case, so the key question is to ask "who is doing what to whom". What follows is a quick way to determine which pronoun to use in a particular question. Ad
Use whom when referring to the object of a verb.
- To whom it may concern:
- To whom did you talk today?
- Whom does Sarah love?
Use who when referring to the subject of a sentence or phrase.
- Who brought the paper inside?
- Who talked to you today?
- Who went to dinner?
- Who ate the cake?
Ask yourself if the answer to the question would be he or him. If you can answer the question with him, then use whom. It's easy to remember because they both end with "m". If you can answer the question with he, then use who.
- Example: A suitable answer to the question, "To [who or whom] did the prize go?" is, "It went to him." (It is improper to say "It went to he.") The correct pronoun for the question is whom.
- Example: A suitable answer to the question, "[Who or Whom] went to the store?" is, "He went to the store." (It is improper to say "Him went to the store.") The correct pronoun for the question who.
Practice Questions
- [Who/Whom] are you calling?
- To [who/whom] did you send the letter?
- [Who/Whom] is at the door?
- [Who/Whom] did you want me to contact?
- [Who/Whom] ate my pizza?
Answers
- Whom are you calling? (I am calling him.)
- To whom did you send the letter? (I sent the letter to him.)
- Who is at the door? (He is.)
- Whom did you want me to contact? (I wanted you to contact him.)
- Who ate my pizza? (He did.)
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