Wednesday 7 June 2017

Who or whom ?


Many people wonder when they must use any one of these options? The former is the subjective form of the pronoun and the latter the objective form. If you are in this quandary, a way to determine which one to use is to ask yourself the question: Can he, she or they be substituted for a pronoun in context? If the answer is yes then you must use who, for example, 
       Let's award the prize to the person who is most considerate.
       Substituting, we get
       Let's award the prize to he (or she) who is most considerate.
       The sentence still makes sense. 

       If however, you find that you have to use him, her or them, then        you must use whom, for example,
       This mess was created by whom?
       This mess was created by him/her/them! 
       Makes sense, so you've got it right!


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