Who or Whom?

Which Interrogative Pronoun? Reading and Discussion

What word takes the place of a noun? A pronoun, of course! The pronouns we use most are called personal pronouns. We use personal pronouns such as the following to replace a noun: I, my, myself, she, he

There are other kinds of pronouns too. One kind is the interrogative pronoun. Interrogative pronouns are the question askers. There are only five interrogative pronouns: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Who? Who ate my piece of pumpkin pie? What? What are you doing with that watch? Which? Which boat do you think will win the Blue Lake race? Whom? Who did what to whom? Whose? Whose book fell off the table?

Interrogative pronouns are some of the easiest to find in a sentence. Just look for words beginning with the letter w! Two of these interrogative pronouns can be confusing. Should you use who or whom? Many people mix them up when using them in a sentence. The result is often very bad grammar. Here is a simple rule to remember which to use: Who is a subject pronoun. We use it as the subject of a sentence. It is often the first word in a sentence. Who walked the dog last night? Who is used as a subject.

Who can also be used as a predicate nominative. This is the same as a predicate noun. It is used after a linking verb. Predicate nouns, or nominatives, tell us more about the subject. They come after the verb or predicate. The teacher of Room 4B is who? Who is used as a predicate nominative.

You could easily write the sentence another way: Who is the teacher of Room 4B?

In both of these sentences, who refers to the teacher of Room 4B.

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If you can switch the predicate nominative with the subject and the sentence still makes sense, you know for sure your pronoun is being used as a predicate nominative. Whom is an object pronoun. We use whom when a sentence needs a direct object, indirect object, or the object of a preposition. For example: Whom did you invite to go skating?

Here, whom is used as a direct object, even though it begins the sentence. You is the subject; invited is the verb; whom is the direct object. You made whom a chocolate cake?

Here, whom is used as an indirect object. You is the subject; made is the verb; whom is the indirect object. To whom did you give the secret code?

Here, whom is used as the object of the preposition. You is the subject; gave is the verb; code is the direct object. If this still sounds confusing, try this simple tip. In your mind, rewrite the sentence and put in he or him instead of who or whom. Rewrite the part of the sentence that has the confusing pronoun. Use he for who and him for whom. Change the order of the sentence if you must. For example: That is the boy (who or whom) won the spelling bee last week.

Using the tip we could write: He won the spelling bee last week. Or Him won the spelling bee last week.

Which one sounds better? He won the spelling bee last week. So use who. That is the boy who won the spelling bee last week.

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Activities
Activity A: Which pronoun, who or whom, is correct in the following sentence? That is the boy (who or whom) we picked to run the race. ____________

Activity B: Lets Review 1. Interrogative pronouns are known as the _____________ asking pronouns. 2. Name the five interrogative pronouns. 1) ______________________________________ 2) ______________________________________ 3) ______________________________________ 4) ______________________________________ 5) ______________________________________ 3. Two interrogative pronouns are often confusing to use. Name them. __________________________ and ____________________

Activity C: Read the following sentences. Fill in the blank with either who or whom. Remember the handy tip to find out which pronoun works best. Switch the order of the sentence if necessary to find out which pronoun to use. 1. The boy _____________________ fixed my bike is Johns brother. 2. The boys talked about ________________ we would send to camp. 2. ________________________ did he invite to the game? 3. My brother ______________________ likes to swim, taught me to dive. 4. To _____________________ will you teach chess?

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