Content Starts Here

Dictionary of English - who orwhom

Index

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

who orwhom

Who is the subject of a verb: Who said that? Whom is the object of a verb or preposition: To whom can we turn?

So far so good. But whom is quite a formal word, and many people feel uncomfortable using it in ordinary contexts.

There are some circumstances in which you can avoid it. In questions, it is acceptable to use who instead: Who have you told? And in questions ending with a preposition, it is preferable to use who: Who were you talking to ? (It would sound very stilted to ask Whom were you talking to? or To whom were you talking?).

It is sometimes possible to use that instead of whom: He is a man that you can trust.

And in non-formal contexts you can simply leave out the whom: He is a man you can trust.

People who are aware of the 'correctness' of whom can be tempted to use it in cirmcumstances where it does not belong. This is particularly common where there is a short parenthetic clause: A man who I had supposed was dead is correct, A man whom I had supposed was dead is not. If you take out the parenthetic clause (here, I had supposed), you can see that who is the subject of the verb was, so it cannot be whom.

There is also a tendency to use whom as the complement of the verb to be. This should be resisted: Do you realize who I am? is right, Do you realize whom I am? is wrong.