Rule .

Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct. he = who him = whom Example s: Who/Whom wrote the letter? He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct. For who/whom should I vote? Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct. We all know who/whom pulled that prank. This sentence contains two clauses: We all know and who/whom pulled that prank. We are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. He pulled that prank. Therefore, who is correct. (Are you starting to sound like a hooting owl yet ! We want to know on who/whom the prank was pulled. This sentence contains two clauses: We want to know and the prank was pulled on who/whom. Again, we are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. The prank was pulled on him. Therefore, whom is correct.

Who is correct "es, though it may de#end on whom you ask$ %Who& and %whoe'er& are sub(ecti'e #ronouns) %whom& and %whome'er& are in the ob(ecti'e case. As sim#le and im#ortant as that distinction is, many #eo#le ha'e difficulty deciding on the #ro#er usage of %who& and %whom& in sentences. The two sentences below illustrate the easy usage in which %who& is clearly the sub(ect and %whom& is clearly the ob(ect. *n such sim#le cases, 'irtually e'eryone can determine the #ro#er choice: Who is that masked man? (Who / subject) The men, four of whom are ill, were indicted for fraud. (whom / object) When %who& is not the main sub(ect of the sentence, howe'er, many #eo#le become confused. They tinker and change who to %whom.& t was Thomas !efferson, think, who was the third "resident of the #nited $tates. +otice that %who,& not %whom,& is still the correct form as the sub(ect of the clause that follows. The #ro#er name, Thomas ,efferson, could be substituted for %who& to make a #erfectly good sentence: Thomas !efferson was the third "resident of the #nited $tates. As a ready check in such sentences, sim#ly substitute the #ersonal #ronoun %he-him& or %she-her& for %who-whom.& *f he or she would be the correct form, the #ro#er choice is who.& *f %him& or %her& would be correct, use %whom.& This techni.ue of substituting a #ersonal #ronoun for the relati'e #ronoun works nicely whene'er you ha'e difficulty deciding whether to use %who& or %whom,& assuming that you ha'e no difficulty using the #ro#er form of #ersonal #ronouns. /'en when the word order must be altered slightly, you can use the techni.ue: %rs. &imwit consulted an astrolo'er whom she met in $eattle. ($he met him in $eattle.) !ones is the man whom went fishin' with last s"rin'. ( went fishin' with him.) !o(ce is the 'irl who 'ot the job. ($he 'ot the job.) Whom can we turn to in a time of crisis? ()an we turn to her?) The dele'ates differed as to who the( thou'ht mi'ht win. (+ot whom. Here the entire clause is the ob(ect of the #re#osition. 0ubstitution is #articularly hel#ful in cases such as this. They thought he might win.! Who is that masked man? (subject) The men, four of whom are ill, were indicted for fraud. (object) And, now, for a really tough test (or, at least, most #eo#le tri# u# on it!: decided to *ote for whoe*er/whome*er called me first.

+i*e it to whoe*er/whome*er deser*es it. *t1s %whoe'er& in both cases. /'en though you can read the first sentence as %* decided to 'ote for him& (which would make it %whome'er&!, the entire #hrase %(he! called me first& is the ob(ect of the #re#osition %for.& 0o, it1s %whoe'er.& *t1s the same for the second e2am#le: %...he deser'es it& wins out. Three easy-to-use rules so you'll always get it correct Rule ,-. $ubstitute he/him or she/her. *f it1s either %he& or %she,& then it1s %who)& if it1s %him& or %her,& then it1s %whom.& Rule ,/. 0*er( *erb with a tense in a sentence must ha*e a subject. And that word is always in the nominati'e case, so it1s %who.& 3or e2am#le: *n this sentence, %* decided to 'ote for whoe'er called me first&: 4 %*& is the sub(ect of %decided& 4 %he& (whoe'er! is the sub(ect of the 'erb %called.& *n the sentence, %5i'e it to whoe'er deser'es it&:(6"ou7 gi'e it to whoe'er deser'es it.! 4 %he& (whoe'er! is the sub(ect of the 'erb %deser'es.& This rule su#ersedes the first rule as it relates to %who& and %whom.& 1ote. 8elated to this rule is one that says: The sub(ect of a #hrase is always attached to that #hrase 9 no matter what. 3or e2am#le: Ask whoe'er reads that book to answer the .uestion. :reak down the sentence thusly: ("ou! ask him (he reads that book! to answer the .uestion. *n the #hrase %he reads that book,& you cannot se#arate the sub(ect %he& from the #hrase to which it is attached. f (ou remember these two rules 9 substitute %he-him& or %she-her,& and that e'ery 'erb with a tense must ha'e a sub(ect 9 you should sol'e the %who-whom& .uandary e'ery time. f (ou a""l( those two rules and you1re still not sure, a##ly the all;im#ortant 8ule <=. Rule ,2. 5i'e it a sincere and honest effort to determine if it1s %who& or %whom.& *f it takes more than a => seconds to figure it out, #ick the one that sounds best to the ear (read it aloud! and mo'e on. Why :ecause e'en grammarians are likely to s.uabble o'er which to use. :ut always 9 always 9 a##ly rules <? and <@ before using 8ule <=. WH*AH, THAT, WHB, WHBC at the start of a clause. /'en nati'e s#eakers are confused about this. THAT hel#s to identify the thing we are talking about. *f we omit the THAT clause, it destroys the meaning of the sentence. /2am#les with THAT: They ca#tured the dog THAT we found chasing the chickens. (Which dog The one that was chasing the chickens! The beach THAT * like best was 'ery crowded, so we went to another one. (Which beach The one that * like best! *f we are talking about a #erson, it is better, but not essential, to use WHB or WHBC. /2am#les with WHB and WHBC: He likes the girl WHB sits in that corner of the coffee sho# each day. (Which girl The one who sits...! (The girl is the sub(ect of 1sits1 so we use sub(ecti'e WHB! * want to contact the boy WHBC * met at the beach last year. (Which boy The one whom * met! (The boy is the ob(ect of 1met1 so takes the ob(ecti'e WHBC! WH*AH gi'es additional information about the thing we are talking about. We #ut a comma before a WH*AH clause to se#arate it from the rest of the sentence. *f we omit the WH*AH clause, it does not change the meaning of the sentence. *t (ust reduces the amount of information. /2am#les with WH*AH: Bn 0aturday we went to see a mo'ie, WH*AH * thought was 'ery good. We went to the house, WH*AH was newly #ainted, and had dinner with our friends. (WH*AH (ust gi'es more information. *t does not hel# us to identify the mo'ie or house.! *f we are talking about #eo#le, we always use WHB or WHBC instead, but with a comma. /2am#les with sub(ecti'e WHB: Cy friend 8oberto, WHB is a dentist, will meet me in 0al'ador. * went to 'isit my grandmother, WHB always makes a cake for afternoon tea. /2am#les with the ob(ecti'e WHBC:

* ha'e made friends with Caria, WHBC * met in 'erdeamarelo. Ducy recei'ed a re#ly from Eedro, WHBC she had in'ited for lunch. WHBC or WHB any nati'e s#eakers use WHB in the ob(ecti'e, instead of WHBC. They are not correct. +ow you s#eak better /nglish than they do$ Who, Whom, Whose The following is a mini;tutorial on the uses of Fwho,F Fwhom,F and Fwhose.F *f you already know how to use these words, you can ski# the e2#lanation and go directly to the e2ercises. 0ub(ects, Bb(ects and Eossessi'e 3orms To understand how to use Fwho,F Fwhom,F and Fwhose,F you first ha'e to understand the difference between sub(ects, ob(ects, and #ossessi'e forms. 0ub(ects do an action: G He lo'es mo'ies. G 0he goes to school. G We en(oy Ahinese food. Bb(ects recei'e an action: G The teachers like him. G Thomas knows her. G The actor smiled at us. Eossessi'e forms tell us the #erson something belongs to: G His bike is broken. G * like her new book. G The teacher graded our homework. FWhoF is a 0ub(ect Eronoun FWhoF is a sub(ect #ronoun like Fhe,F FsheF and FweF in the e2am#les abo'e. We use FwhoF to ask which #erson does an action or which #erson is a certain way. /2am#les: G Who made the birthday cake G Who is in the kitchen G Who is going to do the dishes FWhomF is an Bb(ect Eronoun FWhomF is an ob(ect #ronoun like Fhim,F FherF and Fus.F We use FwhomF to ask which #erson recei'es an action. /2am#les: G Whom are you going to in'ite G Whom did he blame for the accident G Whom did he hire to do the (ob FWhoseF is a Eossessi'e Eronoun FWhoseF is a #ossessi'e #ronoun like Fhis,F FherF and Four.F We use FwhoseF to find out which #erson something belongs to. /2am#les: G Whose camera is this G Whose dog is barking outside G Whose cell #hone kee#s ringing FWho,F FWhomF and FWhoseF in *ndirect Huestions The sentence below contains an e2am#le of an indirect .uestion: G * don1t know whom he in'ited. 0uch sentences usually start with a #hrase such as: F* am not sureF or FHe doesn1t knowF or FWe don1t care.F ,ust ignore the first #art of the sentence and look at the indirect .uestion when deciding whether to use Fwho,F FwhomF or Fwhose.F Ask yourself if the indirect .uestion re.uires a sub(ect, ob(ect, or #ossessi'e form. /2am#les: G He doesn1t know who the boss of the com#any is. sub(ect of the indirect .uestion G * don1t care whom you in'ite. ob(ect of the indirect .uestion

G 0he isn1t sure whose car that is. FWhoseF shows #ossession of car. FWho,F FWhomF and FWhoseF in Ad(ecti'e Alauses The sentence below contains an e2am#le of an ad(ecti'e clause: G * know the man who won the contest. Ad(ecti'e clauses are used to describe a noun in the main sentence. *n the e2am#le abo'e, the ad(ecti'e clause tells us about Fthe man.F ,ust ignore the main sentence and look at the ad(ecti'e clause when deciding whether to use Fwho,F FwhomF or Fwhose.F Ask yourself if the ad(ecti'e clause re.uires a sub(ect, ob(ect, or #ossessi'e form. /2am#les: G We knew the actress who starred in the mo'ie. sub(ect of ad(ecti'e clause G They hired the man whom we inter'iewed last week. ob(ect of ad(ecti'e clause G 0he knew the family whose house we bought. FWhoseF shows #ossession of house. FWhomF Dess Aommon The form FwhomF is becoming less and less common in /nglish. Cany nati'e /nglish s#eakers think FwhomF sounds outdated or strange. This trend is #articularly common in the United 0tates. /s#ecially when combined with #re#ositions, most #eo#le #refer to use FwhoF as the ob(ect #ronoun. To most nati'e /nglish s#eakers, the e2am#les below sound .uite natural. /2am#les: G Who did you come to the #arty with G * don1t know who he ga'e the book to. G That is the woman who * was talking to. G Who did you get that from G Io you ha'e any idea who he sold his car to G That is the #erson who * got the information from. Who 's. Whom 8ule. Use the he-him method to decide which word is correct. he = who him = whom /2am#les: Who-Whom wrote the letter He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct. 3or who-whom should * 'ote 0hould * 'ote for him Therefore, whom is correct. We all know who-whom #ulled that #rank. This sentence contains two clauses: We all know and who-whom #ulled that #rank. We are interested in the second clause because it contains the who-whom. He #ulled that #rank. Therefore, who is correct. (Are you starting to sound like a hooting owl yet ! We want to know on who-whom the #rank was #ulled. This sentence contains two clauses: We want to know and the #rank was #ulled on who-whom. Again, we are interested in the second clause because it contains the who-whom. The #rank was #ulled on him. Therefore, whom is correct. )a3ul 8eferire se face 8eferire se face la la o "ersoana un lucru, actiune + AA I 5 who = care, cine whom = #e care to whom = caruia, careia whose = al, a, ale, (...! careia, caruia, (...! which = care which = care, #e care to which = caruia, careia whose = al, a, ale, (...! careia, caruia, (...!