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When should who be used and when should whom be used?

Updated: 8/17/2019
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11y ago

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When using "who" and "whom" in the English language, one must remember that most people have absolutely no idea when to use them. If you would like a more in-depth answer than what is provided below, please ask an English professor.

"Who" and "whom" are both nouns, that is to say, they are both objects or people or places. In the following exercises, it will be easier to think of "who" and "whom" as names.

First of all, "whom" can be an object of prepositional phrases; therefore it can be used in the following ways:

  • Of whom do you speak?
  • I am referring to someone whom you may know well.

Now, let's take notice that "whom" is never used as a subject and it never performs an action. In the first sentence, the person doing the action is "you" in "you speak". "Whom" acts as the object, or the receiver, of the action. When rearranged into a statement instead of a question, it becomes "You speak of whom." "Whom", in this case, as in many others, is acting as an OBJECT.

Now, let's move to "who", shall we? "Who" is a subject. It performs actions, never receiving them. It's always doing something, never receiving something.

  • Who threw that ball of yarn!?
  • WHO likes that band!?

So, keeping in mind the examples for "who" and "whom", let's review.

  1. "Who" is always doing something; it's active.
  2. "Whom" never does anything; it's lazy.
  3. "Who" always acts as the subject of a sentence or action.
  4. "Whom" always acts as the object of a sentence or action.
  5. "Who" and "whom" might be interchangeable depending on the phrasing of a sentence.

If you want the easy version, just remember; "who" is a subject and "whom" is an object.

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What is the origin of the word whom?

Whom is a pronoun. Whois used as the subject of a verb (who decided this?) and whom is used as the object of a verb or preposition (to whom do you wish to speak?). However, in modern English who is often used instead of whom, as in who should we support? and most people consider this to be acceptable. Origin: Old English hwā .


Is this correct 'whom is displayed in the'?

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When Montague makes it to the city whom will he find is that the correct pronoun?

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When do you say whom instead of who?

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What answer is correct to who should we send the letter of commendation or to whom should we send the letter of commendation?

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