Who vs Whom

 

Who vs. Whom

Who is a subject pronoun. You use it ask for information about what people are doing or who they are.

Who wants to go hiking this weekend?
Who is the man with the long beard?

Whom is an object pronoun. It is used to find out whom an action is being done to, not who is doing an action. It is also used with prepositions.

Whom do you know in this class?
Whom is the object of the verb know.

Whom are you wrapping that gift for?
Whom is the object of the preposition for.

The preposition for tells us that someone is receiving the gift (not giving it), so it is necessary to use whom and not who. (Traditionally it was never acceptable to use a preposition at the end of a sentence or question, but this rule has been relaxed in recent years. )

Do the examples of whom sound a little odd to you? You're not alone! Using whom in casual conversation can sound formal and stuffy, so when we talk to each other we often use who instead. It's all right to continue to use who during informal conversation or even in informal writing, but with all formal writing you must use whom for the objective case and who for the subjective case.

Hint: 

Use who in a question when you would answer it with I, he, she, we, or they. Use whom when you would answer the question with me, him, her, us, or them. In other words, use who in a question if you would answer it with a subject pronoun, and use whom in a question if you would answer it with an object pronoun.

Who would like some ice cream? I would like some ice cream.
Who went to the fair? They went to the fair.
Who, I, and they are all subject pronouns. You wouldn't say me would like some ice cream or them went to the fair.

Whom did you ask for cookies? You asked him for cookies.
To whom did you wave? You waved to me.
Whom, him, and me are all object pronouns. You wouldn't say you asked he for cookies or you waved to I.

Who	Whom
Subject pronoun	Direct or indirect object pronoun
Never use as the object of a preposition	Must use with prepositions