Who/Whom

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What’s the difference between who and whom?

Knowing when to use who and when to use whom is a hot topic in English. Learn the difference between who and whom with Lingolia’s quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the exercise.

When to use who

  • who is an interrogative pronoun (question word) — it is used in questions to mean “which person?”
    Examples:
    Who is that over there?
    Who is your favourite person?
  • who is also a relative pronoun — it is used to give more information about a person.
    Examples:
    My brother, who works in television, is very successful.
    The person who wins the competition will receive one thousand pounds.

When to use whom

Although whom is sometimes used in formal written English, it is almost never heard in informal English. If you need to decide when to use whom, bear the following things in mind:

  • whom is used instead of who as the object of a verb
    Examples:
    I was with my grandmother, whom I hadn’t seen for months.
    He collected coffee for his boss, whom he hated with a passion.
  • whom is also used instead of who as the object of a preposition
    Example:
    To whom it may concern.
    There are two managers, both of whom are on holiday at the moment.

Still not sure? There’s a simple trick to decide between who and whom.

Use whom if the verb in the sentence can be used with him or her. Use who if the verb in the sentence requires he or she.

Example:
I was with my grandmother, whom I hadn’t seen for months. → I hadn’t seen her for months = whom
My brother, who works in television, is very successful. → He works in television = who

Remember

Although whom is used in formal written English, it is almost never heard in informal English. It is more typical to use who instead of whom, even when it is the object of a verb or preposition.

Example:
I was with my grandmother, who I hadn’t seen for months.
He collected coffee for his boss, who he hated with a passion.

When whom follows a preposition, we reformulate the sentence with who and place the preposition at the end.

Example:
To whom would you like to speak? → Who would you like to speak to?
With whom did you go? → Who did you go with?