Who vs. Whom

Who vs. Whom Who vs. Whom Who vs. Whom By Maeve Maddox No doubt about it, the pronoun whom is in its death throes. If you need a refresher, here’s the difference: Who is the subject form of the pronoun, so it’s the doer of an action, as in That’s the man who climbed Everest. (subject of â€Å"climbed†). Whom is the object form of the pronoun, so it receives the action, as in Whom do you like best? (object of â€Å"like†). Most grammarians agree that English speakers can get along just fine by using who for both subject and object, as we do with the pronoun you: You light up my life. (subject) I love you. (object) An entrenched idiom like â€Å"to whom it may concern† will probably stick around for a while longer. Speakers for whom the who/whom distinction comes naturally will continue to use both forms. Even speakers who use who as an object may continue to use whom when it stands immediately after a preposition, but for the most part, the use of who for whom is a non-issue. The use of whom for who, however, is another matter. A great many speakersincluding professional news reportersfall into what I call the something-between trap. When somethinga subordinate clause or a stock phrase like â€Å"in my opinion†comes between the subject pronoun and its verb, the writer may stumble and use whom instead of who. Observe the problem in the following examples. 1. The heroine is teen-aged Frenchy Hercules, whom one suspects is the directors wife, 2. A Chicago man whom police believe is responsible for 11 burglaries to sheds and garages in the village is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 24 on theft charges, authorities said. 3. Fire personnel radioed deputies to stop the driver, whom, according to reports, appeared to have been under the influence of intoxicants. 4. Before we started coming to BBBA, I [had] taken him to numerous pitching and hitting coaches whom in my opinion were out for the money and not the overall improvement of my sons baseball ability. In each example, the whom should be who. If the errors jumped out at you as soon as you read the sentences, you may as well stop reading now. If you’re not quite sure why these uses of whom are incorrect, read on. Whom is an object form–like him–but in each of these sentences, the whom being used as the subject of a verb. Who is the subject form. Writers can avoid falling into the something-between trap with whom by taking a close look at all the verbs. Because whom can only be an object, eliminate all the subjects first. Determine which subject word goes with which verb. 1. The heroine is teen-aged Frenchy Hercules, whom one suspects is the directors wife. This sentence contains three verbs: is, suspects, and is. The subject of the first is is â€Å"heroine.† The subject of suspects is â€Å"one.† The subject of the second is is â€Å"who† (not whom). The in-between trap is â€Å"one suspects.† NOTE: the verb â€Å"suspects† is what tripped the writer up. In another context, suspects. could be used transitively: He’s the man whom the detective suspects. In this sentence, suspects has no object. 2. A Chicago man whom police believe is responsible for 11 burglaries to sheds and garages in the village is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 24 on theft charges, authorities said. This sentence contains four finite verbs: believe, is responsible, is scheduled, and said. The subject of believe is â€Å"police.† The subject of is responsible is â€Å"who† (not whom). The subject of is scheduled is â€Å"A Chicago man.† The subject of said is â€Å"authorities.† NOTE: The in-between trap is â€Å"police believe.† In another context, â€Å"believe† could take an object, but not here. 3. Fire personnel radioed deputies to stop the driver, whom, according to reports, appeared to have been under the influence of intoxicants. This sentence contains two finite verbs: radioed and appeared. The subject of radioed is â€Å"Fire personnel.† The subject of appeared is â€Å"who† (not whom). The in-between trap is â€Å"according to reports.† 4. Before we started coming to BBBA, I [had] taken him to numerous pitching and hitting coaches whom in my opinion were out for the money and not the overall improvement of my sons baseball ability. This sentence contains three finite verbs: started, had taken, and were. The subject of started is â€Å"we.† The subject of had taken is â€Å"I.† The subject of were is â€Å"who† (not whom). The in-between trap is â€Å"in my opinion.† If all this seems like too much grammar to deal with, there’s a second option for avoiding the something-between trap with whom. Stick with who. (Now isn’t that an interesting construction!) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†Awoken or Awakened?Captain vs. Master