What is the difference between "who" and "whom" ?

Question

Please give examples!!
I am not a native speaker so please help me out!
I dont wanna sound stupid!!

Answer 1

Grammatically Correct 8/03/04
A weekly grammar tip created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors. University of Houston-Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, TX 77901
Who versus Whom
by Shawn Brett
Who and whom are both pronouns that refer to people (they cannot refer to things), but a certain amount of grammatical analysis is required to use each appropriately. Who is a subjective pronoun, whereas whom is an objective pronoun.

When you begin a dependent clause with the pronoun who or whom, you determine the appropriate word by its function in the clause. When the pronoun acts as the subject of the clause, use who. When the pronoun acts as the object of the clause, use whom.

Ex: The prize goes to the runner who collects the most points.
[Who does the action of collecting.]


Ex: The tutor to whom I was assigned was very supportive.
[Whom is the object of the preposition to.]

TIP: If you are not sure which to use, try separating the dependent clause from the rest of the sentence and looking at it by itself. Rewrite the clause as a new sentence by replacing the who or whom with a third person (he/she, him/her or them) personal pronoun. If the replacement pronoun is he/she/they, use who; if it is him/her/them, use whom.

Ex.: The dentist who does my teeth is certified in dental surgery as well.
[He/she does my teeth.]

Ex.: We need to know whom we can trust.
[We can trust him/her/them.]


When you are deciding whether to use who or whom as the beginning to a question, it is easiest to consider the answer to the question. If the answer begins with he/she/they, use who to begin the question. If the answer begins with him/her/them, use whom.

Ex: Who is responsible for this evil deed?
[He/She/They is/are responsible for this evil deed.]


Ex: Whom did you enter into the contract with?
[I entered into the contract with him/her/them.]



NOTE: The rules above apply to the words “whoever” and “whomever” as well.

Answer 2

whom is used as the object--of a preposition or the like.

example: To whom does this belong?
"To whom" is a prepositional phrase--and whom is the object.

if it is a subject--then use who.

However, whom is very outdated--so I would suggest just not using it.

People who use it correctly, sound like they are trying to be pompous.
People who use it incorrectly sound stupid, if someone notices.

So don't worry about it!


--my point was proven by all those who said that "whom" means we are talking about more than one person.
Most english speakers don't know how to use it correctly! And it isn't more formal either. It is similar to the difference between "him" and "he". We use "he" as a subject and "him" as an object.

Answer 3

If you don't want to sound stupid, just don't use 'whom'. Most native speakers don't know the answer, either.

Answer 4

who is a person doing a thing
whom is implication to that person

WHO is knocking at the door?
God helps those WHO help themselves
Those WHO live in glass houses should not throw
stones at others.

WHOM do you want to see ?
WHOM are you talking to ?
by WHOM is this work done ?

Answer 5

Who is the subject, whom is the object.
Who ate my sandwich?
Hannibal ate whom!?!
Or more realistically or if you haven't seen Silence of the Lambs:
To whom am I speaking?
Or.. Do you know to whom you are speaking?
"Who" does the action
"Whom" is done unto.

Answer 6

What a bunch of idiots here! Few whom I would want to crash in my crib.

Answer 7

Both refer to people. However, whom neets a preposition such as to, for, with, from, by: to whom, for whom, with whom, from whom, by whom.
for example
Who wrote that poem?
That poem was written by whom?

Answer 8

they both mean the same thing but whom is a more fancier word than who. That is what i think it is, im a grammar freak!

Answer 9

The difference is the letter "m".


Please award Best Answer points to me right now because I do not like to wait, and I am already impatient with you. You already recognize the deep wisdom and unassailable eternal truth of my answer, so just get it over with and award the points to me RIGHT NOW!

Answer 10

who is a what and whom is what you do