When youre trying to decide whether to use who or whom, ask yourself if the answer to the question would be he or him. We are interested in the second clause because it contains the who whom. We are using hehim and not sheher because the form helps us remember. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate choicewho or whom. Use this hehim method to decide whether who or whom is correct he who him whom. The form whom is becoming less and less common in english. Who and whom refer only to people, and whose almost always does so.
Who versus whom california state university, long beach. If you use i, he, she, we, or they, then the correct form is who. In this instance, whom could be replaced by another pronoun in the objective case, such as him, her, us, me, you, etc. Youll be shocked when i tell you who called me last night. Who functions as a subject, while whom functions as an object. Jul 10, 2015 open questions in english, questions that can be answered in many ways and not just with yes or no are a little tricky. However, with a simple trick, they will always choose the correct pronoun. The mustardyellow belt is for whomever she designates as the hot dog eating champion. There is often confusion about the use of who, whose, whom, that, which or where. Who, whom, whoever, and whomever san jose state university.
This is my brother, whom you met at our house last month. May 30, 2019 put simply, use whomwhich is a pronounwhen it is the object of a sentence. That simply means that who and the same for whoever is always subject to a verb, and that whom and the same for whomever is always working as an object in a sentence. The man that was arrested was later proven to be innocent. Whomever is the direct object of the verb designates. The doctor who you recommended is not available for three months. This is especially true when you are deciding whether to use who or whom. Sheila asked who whom would be the new principal at the school. Who, whom, whose fill in each blank space with who, whom or whose. The proper use of the relative pronouns who, that, and which relate the subject of a sentence to its object, hence the name.
First, its important to remember that in some cases, the subject of the question is really the object of a preposition. When to use that, which, and who daily writing tips. Click on the links below for the free pdf worksheets. Using who, whom, whose and example sentences in english table of contents using who in englishusing whom in englishusing whose in english using who in english who is used for people. The woman whom i saw at the cinema last week is a dentist. Whom is the correct pronoun since it is the direct object of married in the clause whom she married. When trying to determine which pronoun to use, you must first determine if the pronoun is acting as a subject, an object, or an indicator of possession. We use whom because the pronoun acts as the object of the preposition for. We are interested in the second clause because it contains the whowhom.
Examples who is the correct pronoun since it is the subject of live in the clause who live in glass houses. Who, whom, and whose function as interrogative pronouns and relative. Remember, if you can rearrange the sentence and put a subject pronoun i or he in the space, you should use who. Practice pronouns used as the subject who, i, we, you, he, she they. Who whose whom that and which are relative pronouns.
The same rule goes for the use of who and whom in clauses. Created by elaine minamide page 2 of 3 updated on 1030 rule a simple rule to keep in mind is that whowhom is a pair of pronouns just like hehim, sheher, they them. Youll be shocked when i tell you whom called me last night. Relative pronouns on the gmat describe the noun or noun phrase immediately before them, in this case artist. Using who in english who is a subject pronoun like i, he, she, we and etc we use who to ask which person does an action or which person is a certain way. Whom is an object pronoun like him, her, us and etc we use whom to ask which person receives an action. The following is a minitutorial on the uses of who, whom, and whose. We can use a nondefining relative clause with of which and of whom after quantifiers. This handout will go over when to use each pronoun in different types of sentences and also give quick tips for remembering their different functions. Practice pronouns used as the subject who, i, we, you, he, she they pronouns used as the object whom, me, us, you, him, her, them to choose correctly among the forms of who, first rephrase the sentence or the clause using. Aug 18, 2016 when youre trying to figure out whether to use who or whom, it helps to know the difference between subjects and objects because you use who when youre referring to the subject of a clause and whom when youre referring to the object of a clause. Whom quiz the blue book of grammar and punctuation.
With that said, fewer people nowadays know this difference and many people dont care. Use who, whom, or whose to refer to a person or persons. Rule a simple rule to keep in mind is that whowhom is a pair of pronouns just like hehim, sheher, they them. Whom is a pronoun in the objective case and must be used as the object of verbs or prepositions.
Feb 23, 2015 use whom or whomever when you are referring to objects. The boy who wore the blue shirt hit the little girl. Whom is the object of the clause whom she had expected or she had expected himher. First of all, use the ever suffix when who or whom can fit into two clauses. Whom and him both end in m, so just remember that if you can answer the. While using who rather than whom might not be as obvious, using whom incorrectly may give the impression a person is trying to sound more educated than they really are. Interrogative and relative pronouns who, whom, and. In the above sentences who is used in the subject position of the sentence or phrase, while whom is in the object position or after a preposition. He was especially kind to the guests who whom i had brought. Who should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence. Youll know when to use whom if the pronoun is used in the objective case, or action is being done to the pronoun. If it helps, him and whom both end with the letter m. Check your answers with the interactive version of the exercise.
If you can replace it with him or her, use whom who should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. We use whom to replace her, the object of the verb the reasons are the same. Students often encounter difficulty in deciding whether to use who or whom. Now that you know the rule and have seen the words in action, here are two tricks for deciding between whowhoever and whomwhomever. Jan 31, 2017 who and whom each have a specific role in a sentence, so it is necessary to understand their functions and use them correctly. Even careful speakers have not yet surrendered the distinction either. You will have to decide whether the missing word should be who or whom. Improve your language arts knowledge with free questions in use relative pronouns. Sentence makes sense without the whowhom structure, so the correct form is whom.
Especially when combined with prepositions, most people prefer to use who as the object pronoun. The correct use of who and whom in questions and statements may seem like a lost battle, still fought only by punctilious english teachers. Perhaps no aspect of modern english confuses more writers and speakers than knowing when to use who and whom. Who is a pronoun that refers to the subject of the sentence. Who whom did the supervisor recommend for the position. Get the skinny on pronouns in pronoun tips for proper english grammar.
The correct use of who and whom is a matter which many non native and native speakers of english alike have difficulty with. I, he, she, we and etc we use who to ask which person does an action or which person is a certain way. What follows is a quick way to determine which pronoun to use in a particular question. The question you must ask yourself now is whether artist is the subject or the object of the relative clause, meaning the doer or receiver of the action.
We rarely use this pronoun any more unless it follows a preposition. Practice pronouns used as the subject who, i, we, you, he, she they pronouns used as the object whom, me, us, you, him, her, them. We use who when referring to people or when we want to know the person. Use whom when referring to the object of a verb how to use who and whom correctly. This rule is compromised by an odd infatuation people have with whom and not for good reasons. Who, whom english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. Use who for the subject case and whom for the object case.
Who, whom, and whose are pronouns and therefore have specific cases that dictate where each can be used in a sentence. If you can replace the word with he or she, use who. Using who, whom, whose and example sentences in english. I am going to the party with whoever whomever asks me. Modern usage of these pronouns allows some exceptions to this rule. The person who answered the phone was very helpful. The correct use of who and whom in questions may seem like a lost battle, still joined only by punctilious english teachers, but the correct usage remains important in formal writing. The correct use of who and whom is a matter which many nonnative and native speakers of english alike have difficulty with. Restrictiveessential clause a relative clause in a sentence that is absolutely necessary for reader understanding.
In other words, who is a subject pronoun and whom is an object pronoun. How to troubleshoot in your mind, substitute a she or her, or a he or him, for the who or the whom. This technique of substituting a personal pronoun for the relative pronoun works nicely whenever you have difficulty deciding whether to use who or whom, assuming that you have no difficulty using the proper form of personal pronouns. Who whom was the one who received the highest score. Use who, whom, or whose to refer to a person or persons examples who is the correct pronoun since it is the subject of live in the clause who live in glass houses whom is the correct pronoun since it is the direct object of married in the clause whom she married. If you already know how to use these words, you can skip the explanation and go directly to the exercises.
Who, whom english grammar today cambridge dictionary. However, if you want to know the difference between whom vs who and be sure that you are using the correct one. Generally, if you can omit the whowhom entirely, the correct form is whom. In this exercise, you will be presented with some sentences with a word missing. However, who is used as the subject of a sentence or phrase, to denote who is doing something like he or she.
When the pronoun acts as the object of the clause, use whom. We use whose to find out which person something belongs to. This trend is particularly common in the united states. So many people use who when they should use whom, especially when speaking, that it is not considered a big mistake. Rogers, who claimed to be innocent, was sentenced to three years in prison. All, both, each, many, most, neither, none, part, some. The man whom i saw at the theather last night is an engineer. Difference between who and whom with comparison chart. However, using who and whom correctly can come in handy in formal writing. Use which or that if the adjective clause is describing a thing or idea. It was george who whom they saw at the bank earlier that morning. Use who, whom, or that if the adjective clause is describing a person. Mar 20, 20 the woman whom i saw at the bar is peters sister. Do you know someone whom i can talk about global warming.
Of all the complicated grammar rules, knowing when to use who versus whom ranks right up there. The difference between who and whom english grammar. Firstly, keep in mind that your usage of the pronoun who vs whom will depend on the answer you are looking for. However, using who and whom correctly can come in handy in formal writing, and it will make you seem more educated. Two sentence patterns in particular lead to confusion with these words. A letter to my brother, whom i bullied when we were young the guardian. Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. If you would use him, then it is an object pronoun and you need to use whom. The question of which of the three words to use in a given context vexes some writers. Janice is the student the teachers picked as outstanding. For each of the following, choose the correct sentence. Again, we are interested in the second clause because it contains the whowhom. On the other hand, whom should be used as the object of the sentence. We use whom to ask which person received an action.
Many native english speakers think whom sounds outdated or strange. A pronoun in the subject group may be used as the subject of a verb. Do not use whos, the contraction for who is, for the possessive whose. If you can replace the word with her, him, or them for example, use whom. Choosing when to use who and whom the whole topic of pronouns is enough to give you a headache, but the time has come to put to rest one of the peskiest pronoun problems once and for all. Subordinating c i adjective c who, whom, which, that. The criminal to whom the pardon was given expressed his gratitude. The woman to whom the barman was talking is peters sister. In distinguishing between whoever and whomever, the same rules apply. If its he, then use who but if its him, you should select whom since both words end with an m. If you use me, him, her, us, or them, then the correct form is whom. Which before you can understand when to use who, that, and which, you must understand the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. To give additional information about entities or people we use of which or of whom along with a group of other words. A technique you can use to easily remember this rule is to ask yourself if the hypothetical answer to the question would be he or him.