when to use who or whom

When to Use "Who" or "Whom"

Understanding when to use who versus whom can be tricky, but here’s a clear explanation to help you use them correctly.

Basic Rule:

• Who is used as a subject of a sentence or clause.
• Whom is used as an object of a verb or preposition.

1. Use Who When It Is the Subject

• The subject is the person doing the action.

• Example:

  • Who is coming to the party?
    (Who = subject of "is coming")

• Another example:

  • Who wrote this book?
    (Who = subject of "wrote")

2. Use Whom When It Is the Object

• The object is the person receiving the action or the object of a preposition.

• Example as object of a verb:

  • Whom did you see?
    (You saw whom? "Whom" is the object of "did see")

• Example as object of a preposition:

  • To whom should I address the letter?
    ("Whom" is object of the preposition "to")

Quick Trick: Replace with He/She or Him/Her

• If you can replace the word with he or she , use who.
• If you can replace it with him or her , use whom.

Example:

• Who/Whom called you?
• He called you → Use Who
• Whom did you call?
• You called him → Use Whom

Summary Table

Function| Use| Example
---|---|---
Subject| Who| Who is at the door?
Object of verb| Whom| Whom did you invite?
Object of prep.| Whom| With whom are you going?

If you want, I can provide more examples or exercises to practice!