Who vs. whom

Who is used as a subject of a sentence, while whom is used as the object of a sentence. In other words, who is used when the person is performing the verb, and whom is used when the verb is being performed on the person.

A quick rule of thumb:

Who can be replaced by he or she.
Whom can be replaced by him or her.

Who is attending the meeting today?

“Who” is the subject of the sentence and can be replaced with he or she: He/She is attending the meeting today. Who/He/She is the one doing the action (”attending”).

To whom should I address the email?

You can always rearrange the sentence so it starts with the subject: I should address the email to whom? “Whom” is the object of the sentence and can be replaced with him or her: I should address the email to him/her.

Example sentences

Who

Who is in charge of the party planning committee?
Do you know who that man is?
Could you tell me who was looking for me earlier?
Who said I was going to take it all for myself?
I wonder who will be the next president.

Whom

With whom did you go to prom?
I don’t remember the employee with whom I consulted.
With whom should I work on the project?
The present is for whom?
Whom did you invite to the conference?

In less formal contexts, who can be used instead of whom, as whom may come off as overly formal. Even in formal situations, people may choose to say who when they should be saying whom to not seem pretentious and too posh.

Practice questions

Who/Whom should I go to for questions regarding the workshop?
Who/Whom will decide the final order of the speakers?
Who/Whom did you go hiking with yesterday?
To who/whom did you give your survey answers?
Who/Whom is responsible for the mess in the hallway?
Who/Whom did you meet at the library the other day?
With who/whom are you planning to go to Bali?
Who/Whom should I call when I have trouble with the equipment?
Who/Whom told her about the rumors?
Who/Whom is going to take care of your cat while you are away?

Answers

Whom
You can rephrase the question so the subject comes first : I should go to who/whom for questions regarding the workshop? The correct answer is “whom” because the subject (”I”) is doing the action (”go to”) to the object (”whom”). The question would read: I should go to whom for questions regarding the workshop?
Who
In this sentence, the subject is already at the beginning of the sentence. “Who” is the correct answer because the subject (”Who”) will do the action (”decide”) to the object (”final order”). The question would read: Who will decide the final order of the speakers?
Whom
You can rephrase the question so the subject comes first. : You went hiking with who/whom? Whom is the correct answer because the subject (”You”) is doing the action (”hiking”) with the object (”whom”). The question would read: You went hiking with whom?
Whom
You can rephrase the question so the subject comes first: You gave your survey answers to who/whom? “Whom” is the correct answer because the subject (”you”) did the action (”give”) to the object (”whom”). The question would read: You gave your survey answers to whom?
Who
In this sentence, the subject is already at the beginning of the sentence. “Who” is the correct answer because the subject (”who”) is doing the action (”is responsible”) for the object (”mess”). The question would read: Who is responsible for the mess in the hallway?
Whom
You can rephrase the question so the subject comes first: You met who/whom at the library the other day? “Whom” is the correct answer because the subject (”you”) is doing the action (”meet”) with the object (”whom”). The question would read: You met whom at the library the other day?
Whom
You can rephrase the question so the subject comes first: You are planning to go to Bali with who/whom? “Whom” is the correct answer because the subject (”you”) is doing the action (”are planning”) with the object (“whom”). The question would read: You are planning to go to Bali with whom?
Whom
You can rephrase the question so the subject comes first: I should call who/whom when I have trouble with the equipment? “Whom” is the correct answer because the subject (”I”) is doing the action (”call”) to the object (”whom”). The question would read: I would call whom when I have trouble with the equipment?
Who
In this sentence, the subject is already at the beginning of the sentence. “Who” is the correct answer because the subject (”Who”) is did the action (”told”) to the object (”her”). The question would read: Who told her about the rumors?
Who
In this sentence, the subject is already at the beginning of the sentence. “Who” is the correct answer because the subject (”Who”) is doing the action (”is going to take care of”) to the object (”your cat”). The question would read: Who is going to take care of your cat while you are away?