"Who" 0r "whom" just exactly when do you use one over the other? Please give me an example of each.

Question

Also when using quotations which is the correct one: "How are you?" of "How are you"? Thanks.

Answer 1

The answer to this question is quite complicated, actually.

The reason this is even a question for people is because "whom" is not used for case marking in English really anymore, regardless of what the grammar books say.

According to grammar rules, when the pronoun in question is referring to the subject of the clause, use "who". When the pronoun in question is referring to an object (a direct object, an indirect object, or the object of a preposition) use "whom".

Therefore it's:
I don't know who came to the party last night.
I don't know whom you called yesterday.
I don't know by whom the book was written.
I don't know to whom she gave the purse.

A good trick that native speakers can use is to try to turn the situation into a sentence, and see if you can replace the verb with he/she or him/her. If he or she works, it's "who", and if him/her works, it's "whom". For example:
He came to the party last night. (Not "Him came to the party last night.") -> I don't know who came to the party last night.
You called her yesterday. (Not "You called she yesterday.") -> I don't know whom you called yesterday.

HOWEVER:
These days even educated people have a difficult time remembering the rule for "who" and "whom" as mentioned above, and these words have taken on a different role. "Whom" is now more or less a marker of formality rather than a marker of objective case. I have heard very educated people use "whom" in a position that would normally call for "who". So these days, in formal speeches, "whom" is not so much a grammatical thing as an indicator that the speaker is aware of the formality.

The upshot of this is that you don't actually have to know the "rule" about applying who/whom in formal speech, because even very educated people do not follow that rule sometimes.

Answer 2

Who is a subject and whom is an object but in casual talk no one uses whom.

Who is going to the store with whom?

with whom
for whom
of whom
to whom

Answer 3

who is always used if the person it relates to is the subject of the action. In languages with declinations, like latin or german, it would be be nominative form. " who is here?"," the person who is speaking", "I wonder who said it". You notice of course that "who can be the subject of any proposition, any part of the phrase.
"whom" is used when you speak about the object, and not the subject, or any other complement. "for whom the glas tolls", "whom could I ask?". Actually, you have a third form, used in the genitive form, which is "whose". Genitive meaning an appartenance, " I know whose house it is", "the girl whose books I am reading", etc...

Answer 4

The man asked "How are you?". The question-mark forms part of the man's quote, the period ends my statement. Did you say "I am well."? The question-mark now forms part of my question, regarding your quoted statement.

Who is subjective. (Who is he?, Who are you?, Who knows?) Whom is objective. It is found in an objective phrase, following a preposition. (It belongs to whom?, With whom shall I sit?, etc.)

Here's an old trick, a preposition is anything you can throw a ball: "You can throw a ball to Tom, with force, at a target, by chance, into a net, in time and across a field," To, with, at, by, into, in and across are just a few examples of preposition.

English is a wonderful, all be it, confusing language. Mastering it is an ongoing chore. You should be commended for trying to better yourself.

Answer 5

WHOM doesn't have to have a preposition, just as HIM doesn't. You gave whom the book? (=I gave HIM the book) You saw WHOM there?

Not enough people know that WHO can be the object of a verb or preposition if it is the subject of its own verb within the sentence:

WHO do you wish would show up? (=I wish HE would show up)
You'll give it to WHOM? To WHOEVER shows up first. This is because the real object of TO in the second sentence is the whole clause (mini-sentence) whoever-shows-up-first.

Answer 6

Who/whom? This is simple- if you could use the word 'him' in the sentence, then you'd use 'whom'.

Example: "For whom the bell tolls"- the bell tolls for 'him'. You cannot easily make it work with 'he'.

"Who went to the store?" HE went to the store.
"Whom did you go to the store with?" I went to the store with HIM

Reason: "The distinction between “who” and “whom” is basically simple: “who” is the subject form of this pronoun and “whom” is the object form." (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/who.html )

As for the question mark, to quote:
"Put a dash, question mark, or exclamation point within closing quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence.
-Philip asked, "Do you need this book?"
-Does Dr. Lim always say to her students, "You must work harder"?
-Sharon shouted enthusiastically, "We won! We won!"
-I can't believe you actually like that song, "If You Wanna Be My Lover"!" (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quote.html )

Answer 7

first of all the first quotation thing is right. secondly when using whom it has to before a preposition like, for whom, with whom, and by whom

Answer 8

In "How are you?", the question mark is inside the quotes because it's part of the question you're asking.

"Who" is used as the subject of a sentence. "Who is your teacher?" "Who painted that nice picture?"

"Whom" is used when you mean the object of the verb or of a preposition. (Informally, in speech, we often use "who" for this usage, too, but the proper use in writing is "whom.") "For whom did you bring this package?" "She is the person whom I chose to head the committee." (in second example, "whom" is the object of the verb "chose".)

Answer 9

'whom' follows or is accompanied somewhere in the same sentence by a preposition
eg. to whom are you speaking?

The bell tolls for whom? etc.

the correct one "How are you?"
the last punctuation mark is always captured by final quotation marks (or brackets.)

Answer 10

who wants to know or to whom it may concern