 Words we confuse
Who or whom?
| |
who |
whom |
| Meaning |
A person being referred to when that person is the subject of the clause. |
A person being referred to when that person is the object of the clause. |
| Type |
pronoun |
pronoun |
| Examples |
John is a man who will go far. Who is the new guy? |
John is a man whom we feel we can count on. The new guy was chosen by whom? |
| Quick tip! |
Use who except when preceded by a preposition (for, to, from, with, through, by), in which case use whom (for whom, to whom, etc). |
These two personal pronouns are quite possibly the hardest two English words to correctly distinguish.
If you want to be certain which to use you need to determine if the person being referred to (the antecedent) is a subject (a person or thing doing an action) or an object (a person or thing affected by an action).
So how do you do this?
The most effective technique is to substitute one of the other personal pronouns because the form of that pronoun will tell you whether it is standing in for a subject or an object.
| |
Subjects |
Objects |
| Personal pronouns |
I
he
she
they
who |
me
him
her
them
whom |
Substitution simply requires answering a question, or asking a question of a statement. Here are a couple of a step-by-step examples:
- Sentence in question
Who/whom is the new guy?
- Question or statement?
Question, so answer it.
- Answer
He is the new guy.
- Subject (who) or object (whom)?
He is a subject pronoun.
- Correct usage
Who is the new guy?
- Sentence in question
John is a man who/whom we feel we can count on.
- Question or statement?
Statement, so ask a question.
- Question
Who is the man we feel we can count on?
- Answer
We feel we can count on him.
- Subject (who) or object (whom)?
Him is an object pronoun.
- Correct usage
John is a man whom we feel we can count on.
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