Using who and whom correctly can be tricky, even for native English speakers. One easy way to remember when to use whom is to substitute it for he or him. If he or him sounds better, whom is the right word.
Whom is the relative pronoun that applies to the object of a verb or preposition. Knowing when to use whom can make your writing sound more professional and polished.
Subject Pronoun
Subject pronouns are the words that perform the action of a verb or preposition. On the other hand, object pronouns receive the action.
It’s not surprising that who and whom are among the most commonly misunderstood of all English words. Both are relative pronouns, connecting other parts of a sentence to a noun or another pronoun in a dependent clause with more information.
Choosing between who and whom can be tricky when it comes to using them as objects or question words. Grammar Girl notes that it’s often best to substitute subjective-case pronouns like he, she, or they in for who and whom to see which sounds more natural. If it fits, who is correct; if it doesn’t fit, whom is correct.
Object Pronoun
When it comes to object pronouns, who and whom are often confused. While both words are relative pronouns that can function as interrogative or prepositional phrases, who and whom serve different purposes in a sentence.
When used as an interrogative, who should be asked about the person or people who are being referenced in the question. The word whom, on the other hand, is used as an objective pronoun. It can replace subject pronouns or complete the meaning of a preposition.
To remember when to use who and whom, just keep in mind that who is the subject of the action and whom is the object of the action. If you can answer a question with him, use whom; otherwise, use who. This is also helpful because both who and him end with an M.
Interrogative Pronoun
Choosing whether to use who or whom as an interrogative pronoun can be tricky, even for native speakers of English. The general rule is that whom should be used if the person it’s referring to is the object of a preposition or verb, while who should be used if the subject of the pronoun is something else.
A common trick for remembering which form to use is substituting he or him. If the replacement sounds correct, who should be used; if it doesn’t, whom should be used.
Getting whom and who right can set your writing apart from the rest. While it may seem like a small detail, it’s important to know when to use whom in order to sound smart and professional. Luckily, Grammarly’s who and whom tool makes this process easy and accurate. Try it free today!
Prepositional Pronoun
Pronouns are a crucial part of sentence structure. They help avoid repetitive wording, and they also give meaning to the verbs in a sentence. However, they can also be confusing.
Choosing the right word for a subject, object, or prepositional pronoun can be difficult. Fortunately, there is a simple trick to determine which of who and whom to use in a sentence. Try substituting he or she in the sentence, and see which one sounds better. If it sounds better with who, then who is the correct pronoun. If it sounds better with him or her, then whom is the correct pronoun.
Knowing the difference between who and whom is essential to writing correctly in English. Remembering that who represents a subject and whom represents an object will help you to avoid confusion when using these important pronouns. Use this mnemonic device to keep who and whom straight, and you’ll have no trouble using these common words correctly in your writing.