First of all let me say that I'm sure there is already a post for this question and secondly I should probably already know this anyway....I apologize for both. SO here it is: When should I use who and when should I use whom?
Who = he or she. Whom = him or her. Just replace when necessary. ---------- Post added at 02:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ---------- Use "who" to replace "he/she, "whom" for "him/her." It's a question of subject or object.
Who are you? (Who is the subject pronoun) Whom are you going to marry? (Whom is the object pronoun) Whom did you speak to? " BUT 'Whom' is dying out, so even if it's more correct, it looks and sounds at best pompous and at worst archaic (at least to British English speakers, excuse me if you use it more often in the US). We tend to use 'who' for both situations now, i.e. we say 'Who are you going to marry?' or 'Who did you speak to?' I only use the correct grammar rule as a secret weapon for my students to score highly in the horrible tests that are still inflicted on them where I work.
No, we don't really use it in the U.S. The stigma is that it's growing more pompous to say "whom." But I see it here and there. ---------- Post added at 03:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 PM ---------- I should say they don't use it in the U.S., but I meant we all on this side of the world don't.
Thanks Slurpy for coming up with this question because sometimes I'm having a difficulty of using both in a sentence construction or even when communicating with others. Your answers lostinwebspace are excellently correct. May this thread help those people having a difficulty distinguishing who or whom.
