Who vs Whom

Who vs Whom When it comes to writing, there are some words that can be confusing as to which is the correct one to use. A good example of this confusion is further versus farther. Another common word duo many people have difficulty knowing which is correct is who and whom. Very few people bother to use the word whom in spoken English, but when were writing, we want to use the correct grammar. Since we so seldom use whom, we arent always sure when it is the right choice, or when we should stick to the familiar who instead. Most experts agree that if we are unsure, who is a safer bet. And its fine for informal writing after all whom is slowly disappearing from our language. However, if we have to produce formal written work, we do need to know when to use the mysterious whom. Put it in the wrong places, and youll look pompous and silly. Omit it when you should have used it, and youll look unprofessional if your error is picked up. First of all, well look at the rule that governs the use of whom, and then, to make it easier for you, well look at a little cheat that you can use to test a sentence when you arent sure which of the two words belongs. The rule governing the use of who and whom Look at the verb in your sentence. Is who performing the action? If so, who is the right choice to make. So who is the subject of a verb the one who is the doer! Who is there? Do you know who will attend the conference? Who threw that snowball? I got hit by a snowball and I want to know who threw it! This is the man who won the prize. Youve probably already guessed that since you choose who when the person youre referring to is the subject of your verb, youll use whom when the person becomes the object of the verb. The object is acted on by the verb rather than being the one responsible for the action. With whom were you out last night? We will inform those whom we shortlist. Be selective about those whom you choose as friends. To whom should the invoice be sent? An easy cheat Although we tend to be confused about when to use the word who and the contexts in which whom is the correct choice, were much more familiar with the words he and him and they and them. We instinctively know which of the words in these pairs fit into any sentence. You will have noticed that whom, him and them all end in the letter m, and the rule for choosing them or him rather than they or he is exactly the same as it is for who and whom. By playing around with the sentence you plan to write, substituting he or him for who or whom you can get a pointer that tells you which of the two words will be correct. Of course, that wont work as well for questions, but in that case, you can try answering the question as simply as possible to get your pointer. Question: Who / Whom is knocking on the door? Answer: He is knocking. So now we know that the right word to use in the question is who. I met three men, one of who / whom is an astronaut. I met three men, one of them is an astronaut. In this case, whom matches them and would be the correct word to use. Unfortunately, our little cheat doesnt always work as easily as it does in the above examples. If you find yourself struggling, youll have to return to your verb so you can decide whether who / whom is the subject or object of the verb. Always remember a subject performs the action indicated by the verb while the object is on the receiving end. You can also look at where your prepositions are located. Whom often follows a preposition. For example: With whom Of whom Beside whom After whom Around whom Still worried? Remember, the subtleties which dictate when we use who and when we use whom are not clear to the majority of people. Unless you are writing a formal document, you can choose who and hope for the best. But if you can master the who / whom distinction, youll be ahead of the pack, and thats always a great place to be.