When do I use 'who' and when do I use 'whom'?

Answer 1

Hardly anyone really knows how to use 'whom' properly. The best advice on this one I've seen is from the englishgrammartutor website:

The relative personal pronouns `who’ `whom’

The burning question is: why `whom’ and not `who’?’ This following comparison of structures will determine the reason. In:

The man who married Mary won the jackpot

the adjective `who married Mary’ describes `the man’ in terms of his direct state: he `married Mary’. But in:

The man whom Mary married won the jackpot

the adjective `whom Mary married’ describes `the man’ relatively, in terms of Mary’s state: `Mary married’ him.

Traditional Grammar has sought to describe the `who/whom’ usage in terms of `subject and object of the verb’. That was not at all a clever thing to do. For one thing, in the sentences `The man whom Mary married’ and `The man who married Mary’, the sequences headed by `who’ and `whom’ describe the noun-subject. One is hard pressed to find either object or verb in such a context.

It’s no big deal!

Whether or not the syntax of `who’ and `whom’ is respectable, it is worth while to come to terms with its usage. Knowledge is prestigious and unembarrassed. Most people avoid using `whom' for fear of misusing it. (They do not seem to mind misusing `who'.) An amusing few will venture `whom' tentatively then appear to regret it, uncomfortably aware that they may have got it wrong. (Quite often they had.) A superior few use `whom' relentlessly, thinking it `better’ than `who'. This is probably the most embarrassed item in contemporary usage. Fortunately, the embarrassment is wonderfully easy to cast off. One does not even have to contend with the syntax of it. Quite simply, when a relative phrase describes a noun without reference to another person’s state, that sequence is always headed by `who':

Answer 2

This would be SO easy if you knew a bit of Latin or other language that had pretty rigid grammar rules. Who is nominative, i.e. the subject of a sentence, whereas Whom is used in other places, like, "to whom", "of whom", "at whom", etc.

Who are you?
To whom are you speaking?
Of whom are you talking?
By whom was the book written?
With whom are you going out?

Boring!!!

Answer 3

This is one of those tricky grammar questions that continues to confound some people. According to the American Heritage Book of English Usage, "Who is used for a grammatical subject, where a nominative pronoun such as I or he would be appropriate, and whom is used as the object of a verb or preposition."
For those of us to whom (notice the correct usage of "whom" after a preposition) grammar school is a distant memory, a little basic English review is needed. A nominative pronoun acts as a subject of a verb (Who ate the cake?) or as the subject of a linked verb (Did you see who ate the cake?). A direct object, on the other hand, is the object of a verb (Whom did you call?) or a preposition (He is the person to whom I placed the call).

If the days of diagramming sentences on the blackboard are fuzzy, and subjects and objects swim together in a sea of confusion for you, many sites advise you to simply trust your ear. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation offers this helpful tip: if you can replace a word with "he" or "she," then it is the subject of the sentence and you should use "who." If you can replace the word with "him" or "her," it is the object and you should use "whom." You might need to rephrase the sentence to make this work.

On the web site of the Meredith College Writing Center, we found another handy rule of thumb -- only pronouns that are objects end in the letter "m" (whom, him, them).

The correct usage of these troublesome pronouns is often ignored in speech and informal writing when the word "whom" would sound forced or unnatural.

Answer 4

RE: Can anyone tell me an easy way to remember how to know whether to use the word "who" or "whom" in a sentence.
i"m homeschooling my 15 yr old and we need some help. thanks.
:-)

Best answers: Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
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For "Who" substitute "He" or "They" -- these are clearly
used for the "subject" of the sentence or the clause, the
person "initiating" the action of the verb

For "Whom" substitute "him" or "them" - these are clearly
the "object" of the clause, commonly used with prepositions
or "receiving" the action of the verb

If you substitute using he/they
or him/them, does the sentence sound right?
If not try the other case.

Answer 5

Who is used when it is subject in a phrase or senence and whom when it's the object.

- Who are those people......."Who" is the subject of the verb "are"
- Give this to whom ever you want.... "whom" is object of the preposition "to".

Answer 6

When drafting a letter to a company dept. without knowing the person concerned you start with,
To whom it may concen
The word who denotes a multitude Who is dealing with this query, who was at last nights party etc. etc. etc.

Answer 7

think of it this way who is he because he is a subject and whom is him so here is and example of what i am talking about
for whom
Jill called whom ? ( Jill called him.)
For he
Who called Jim ? ( He called Jim)
if u used whom in instead of lets say who in the secound one it would read him called jim and tha dosen make sence

Answer 8

To whom this may concern:
Who are you?

Answer 9

"Who" is used as the first word of the sentence whereas "whom" is used elsewhere in a sentence.

Answer 10

See on LARRY ELDER at:


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YuppyGrammar