Writing Wednesday: Who vs Whom?

As requested by my good friend and fellow blogger Ginny Marie, today I’m discussing the difference between “who” and “whom.”

First, the easy answer . . .

Use who in place of he. Use whom in place of him.

Now the full answer . . .

Who is a subject pronoun. That means you can use it as the subject of the sentence, such as “Who can answer my question?” (Remember to think of this as “He can answer my question.”)

Whom is an object pronoun. This means you can use it as a direct object or an object of a preposition.

For example: “Whom should I call?“ (Think: “I should call him.”) Whom is the direct object of the verb call.

Another example: “To whom should I address this letter?” (Think: “I should address this letter to him.”)  In this sentence, whom is the object of the preposition to.

Questions? Any other grammar dilemmas causing you to scratch your head? Leave me a comment.

(photo credit: Olivander via photopin cc)