Who and whom

Who and whom in formal English

The usage of who and whom sometimes leads to confusion. The basic rules are as follows:

Remember that in formal English ‘who’ is used in place of a subject and ‘whom’ is used in place of an object.

‘Subject’ is what does the action mentioned in the sentence and ‘object’ is what takes the effect of the action.

Who

‘Who’ is a subjective pronoun.

Examples:

. 1) Lisa is a teacher (subject = Lisa)

a. Who is the teacher?

b. Lisa, who is a teacher is a very strong lady

. 2) Virat Kohli hit a century (subject = Virat Kohli)

a. Virat Kohli who is a Delhi boy hit a century in Australia.

b. Who hit the century?

c. Virat Kohli is the only player who hit a century.

Whom

Whom is used to replace an object.

Examples:

. 1) You have met Sachin. -- (Sachin is the object of the sentence.)

a. Whom have you met?

b. This is Sachin, whom I believe you have already met.

. 2) Manisha can ask her husband for help . -- (her husband is the object of the sentence.)

a. Whom can she ask for advice if not her husband?

b. Her husband whom she fought with yesterday is on a tour.

Who and whom in informal English

In modern usage in non-formal English the distinction of subjective and objective pronoun is ignored and who is used in both cases.

Examples: 1) Who do you think will marry the princess?

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