Who vs. Whom: BBC News
Who vs. Whom: BBC News
Who vs. Whom: BBC News
Whom
Have you ever been in a situation where you can’t decide whether to use who or whom in your sentence?
People tend to interchange and misuse these two pronouns. Let us help you understand the difference between
the two and how to use them properly in a sentence.
Before delving into the problem of choosing between who and whom, you should understand the difference
between the subject and the object of a sentence. The subject is generally the person or thing that the sentence
is about and is often the one performing the action of the verb. The subject usually comes before the verb.
In the sentence above, the band Black Sabbath serves as the subject of the sentence and is the doer of the verb
bow out.
Meanwhile, the object of a sentence is the person or thing affected by the verb.
In the above sentence, the company Nextbit is the object of the sentence because it is the one being bought by
the subject, the company Razer.
Now that you are able to distinguish between the subject and object of the sentence, it would be easier to
determine when to use who and whom. The pronoun who should be used when you are referring to the subject
of the sentence.
“Who’s Attending the Super Bowl? Mike Pence and Lady Gaga Among Big Names at Big Game”
NBC News
On the other hand, whom should be used as the object of the sentence.
“Who Will Vote for Whom? Predicting Stars’ Picks For the 2017 SAG Awards”
E! Online
The same rule goes for the use of who and whom in clauses. Who should be used as the subject of a clause
while whom should be used for the object.
“Donald Trump fails to mention white man who killed six Muslims in Quebec mosque”
The Independent
“A letter to … My brother, whom I bullied when we were young”
The Guardian
A technique you can use to easily remember this rule is to ask yourse if the hypothetical answer to the question
would be he or him. If it’s he, then use who but if it’s him, you should select whom since both words end with an
m.
Stay on top of your writing! Download our grammar guide from www.englishgrammar.org to stay up-to-date.