How to use our Who Or Whom Checker
Enter any text containing “who” or “whom,” and our checker will mark each occurrence as correct or incorrect. Click a highlighted word to see the recommended pronoun.
Who and whom overview
Correct grammar is always important when your writing meets the public eye. Rules and guidelines abound, and it's difficult to know them all. Some word choices, in particular, are often the subject of debate among writers and their proper usage comes up in questions often.
One choice that meets the criteria is when to use “who” or “whom”. Here, I'll help you determine the right choice between those two terms and provide the reasons why.
Who and whom are both pronouns
Let's start with the most basic fact about the part of speech that both words are. They're pronouns, words used in place of other nouns. What sets them apart from each other is the situation in which they're used.
Now, that may sound complicated at this point, but don't worry. I'm only laying the groundwork for a simple explanation that's easy to understand and remember. I'll provide some examples, too, as well as an easy test to ensure you're using the right one. Are you ready? Here we go!
Let's start with a more specific categorization of the two words. Both “whom” and “who” are personal pronouns. That means they refer to a particular individual or group of individuals in a sentence. They're used as references in both questions and statements, spoken or written. Which one of them to use depends on what part of the sentence they're used as.
A sentence must contain a subject and a predicate
To better understand how to use the terms correctly, we'll need a little refresher in sentence structure. A sentence contains two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the noun that the statement or question is about, and the predicate provides the details about what the subject does. Along with the verb(s) and other items such as modifiers, the predicate will contain the object of the action.
Here's a simple sentence: “Penny helped Danny.”
subject (Penny) + predicate: helped (verb) Danny (the object of her help).
Let's throw in a few modifiers: “Penny quickly helped Danny do his math homework.”
subject (Penny) + quickly (adverb) + helped (verb) + math (adjective) + homework (object)
The subject and object are still the same, when you break it down.
Obviously, a sentence can be much more complex in structure, but these examples point out the components that you'll need to recognize in order to know whether to use “who” or “whom”. Finally, when you're dealing with compound sentences, remember to apply the rules separately to each clause.
Examples of who and whom
Don't let that last bit discourage you. This isn't going to be a full grammar lesson, nor is one required. Now, let's get to the heart of things with a couple of examples of how these two words might be used.
“To whom it may concern:” is a greeting you've probably used in a business letter. It's so common that “To who it may concern:” probably sounds wrong, automatically. For the purposes of this article, though, we're going to ask why the first of those examples is the correct one.
In the first example, “whom” isn't the subject of the sentence. Read it carefully and you'll see that it's actually the object that “it” (the subject) may concern. The second example sounds wrong, because it is.
Although this greeting is a common example, it's certainly not the best one for this article. If you think about it, there's really no good way to use this type of introduction with “who”. I've used it here simply to illustrate that correct usage of the terms will often come naturally. If it doesn't “read” or “sound” exactly right, it probably isn't.
You wouldn't normally say, or write, “Whom is paying for dinner”? By the same token, saying, “Dinner was paid for by who?” doesn't exactly roll off the tongue quite right. We tend to develop an innate sense for their usage through our day-to-day conversations, reading and the like.
Who and whom are similar to personal pronouns like “he”, “she” and “they”
Here's a handy little tip. The relationship between “who” and “whom” is similar to pronouns like “he, she, they” and “him, her, them”. Both terms are pronouns, and are used much like other personal pronouns. In other words, they follow the same basic rules as “he, she, they” or “him, her, them”.
“Who” will apply to the subject of your sentence, while “whom” will refer to the object. That's the reason for my little refresher earlier in the article. It's a good idea to know your basic sentence structure when using these terms. On the other hand, you don't have to have a PhD in grammar to get it right.
Simple way to check if it should be who or whom
As promised, I'm going to show you a simple way to check whether you're using the right choice in your speech or writing. First, though, I want to provide an example that I've seen used that really doesn't hold up. This method works by applying a question to your sentence:
If the subject pronoun in your sentence is “he”, for example, the term you'll use is “who”: “Who is responsible for this?” → “He is.”
Most of you have probably already noticed the problem with this test. Using the example above, the pronoun, “Him.” would work just as well as a response. There must be something with a little more positive and consistent result, right?
A more foolproof method is to simply replace “who” or “whom” with the related personal pronoun. Using the same sentence: “He is responsible for this?” works, while “Him is responsible for this” most definitely does not. I think you'll find this test works, regardless of the gender or singular vs. plural form of the pronoun you substitute.
Conclusion
So, whether you want to really do the work and dig deep into how your sentences are constructed, or just quickly determine which of “who” or “whom” to use in a given situation, I hope you've found some answers in this text. As always, my goal is to provide answers that work consistently, with as little effort as possible.
Whether you're a writer, editor, or speaker, it's always nice to have some firm ground to stand on in the field of word choice.
If you are interested in similar potentially confusing words like who and whom, be sure to check out our Affect or Effect Checker and our Then or Than Checker.