Question

Updated on 18 Mar 2023

18 March

Turkish

English (US)

Question about English (US)

When should I use "Who" or "Whom"? E.g. in the sentence "Who/whom do you like best" I thought it should've been like "Who do you like best" but my friend said I must use "Whom" instead.

And also, some people said "who" and "whom" can be used interchangeably but e.g. in the sentence "You don't have the look of someone to whom things happen by accident", I don't feel like I can replace it with "who"

Answers

emtrivoli

18 March

Featured answer

English (US)

in my understanding... "who" is a subject and "whom" is an indirect object. i.e. the one receiving the action.
you are correct, it's WHO do you like best.
you are ALSO correct on the other sentence: ... "someone TO WHOM things happen..". See? the WHOM is receiving the action.

sometimes people use words like "whom" to make themselve sound more educated than they actually are.. but it backfires.

other examples:
TO WHOM am i speaking? correct
WHO is speaking? correct
WHO is going to the store tomorrow.
TO WHOM should I send the package? correct

with that last example... more commonly we would say: WHO should I send the package TO? but that is not correct grammar (but.. we still say it, like all other languages).

so: you're correct! good job

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emtrivoli

18 March

English (US)

in my understanding... "who" is a subject and "whom" is an indirect object. i.e. the one receiving the action.
you are correct, it's WHO do you like best.
you are ALSO correct on the other sentence: ... "someone TO WHOM things happen..". See? the WHOM is receiving the action.

sometimes people use words like "whom" to make themselve sound more educated than they actually are.. but it backfires.

other examples:
TO WHOM am i speaking? correct
WHO is speaking? correct
WHO is going to the store tomorrow.
TO WHOM should I send the package? correct

with that last example... more commonly we would say: WHO should I send the package TO? but that is not correct grammar (but.. we still say it, like all other languages).

so: you're correct! good job

Highly-rated answerer

usanative

18 March

English (US)

Use who for the subject of a sentence, and use whom for the direct object of a verb. Who fed whom?

If the verb also takes an indirect object, use whom for the indirect object.

Use whom for the object of a preposition: “Socrates, under whom Plato studied, and than whom no ancient Greek is more famous, was older than Aristotle.”

Five related examples:
Edward showed Donald to Lucy.
Edward showed Donald to whom?
Edward showed whom to Lucy?
Edward showed Lucy Donald.
Who showed whom whom.
The president is whom we look up to.

You need to avoid using whom in places where who is correct. The following three sentences are incorrect. Whom is the president?
Sally is someone whom I think can do it.
Sally and whom ate my cookies?

If you are confident about when to use he (or she or I or they) and about where to instead use him (or her or me or them), use who in places where you would use he, and use whom in places where you would use him. They are used in the same places.

However!!! Many people now always use “who” in all the places where “whom” is correct, and this usage has become accepted in all informal situations in American English. Just avoid substituting whom in place of who.

WhiteShadow13

18 March

Turkish

@usanative So, if ppl always use who and whom interchangeably, does that means I'm able to say "...to who things happen by accident" instead of "...to whom things happen by accident"? But that sounds way too wrong, doesn't it?

usanative

18 March

English (US)

Yes, it is definitely wrong. People usually get that particular case correct. But one is likely to hear “the guy under who I worked in my last job”, which is equally wrong.

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When should I use "Who" or "Whom"? E.g. in the sentence "Who/whom do you like best" I thought it should've been like "Who do you like best" but my friend said I must use "Whom" instead.

And also, some people said "who" and "whom" can be used interchangeably but e.g. in the sentence "You don't have the look of someone to whom things happen by accident", I don't feel like I can replace it with "who"