h2g2Fan

For starters, who is the subject forum of the word, whom is the object form. But what does this mean?

If word in question is the subject of the sentence, use who. If this is not the case, the word is a subject, most likely modified by the rest of the sentence, use whom.

A simple test to see which is proper is to replace who/whom with he/him. If he sounds right, use who; if him is right, use whom. For example: since he did it and not him did it, use who did it; since we give something to him and not to he, use to whom. It gets tricky only when the preposition is separated from the who/whom as in Who/whom did you give it to? Rearrange the words in your head: "To whom did you give it?"

Now it's time to test yourself: http://webster.commnet.edu/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/who_quiz.htm

asshopo

meany

Silvy

Nice piece...
but those two words still confuse me...
Then again, English is not my primary language.

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h2g2Fan

Yeah, I wasn't sure whether to put this in here or in the literature forum. Believe it or not, I've seen misuses of both words in there... :P

sunstone

Hey, this was actually useful!! I'm usually pretty good at getting this right, but am not good at explaining it when the inevitable argument ensues as to which word is correct. Thanks!

h2g2Fan

You are quite welcome. Quite.

rheemteam

Remember:

As you go through life; it's not who you know that's important, but whom.

Splice

Man, always pride myself on my grammar skills but it got me. I got 11 of 15 correct. Not too shabby, but certainly not great. Damn!

h2g2Fan

Most. Ironic. Sentence. Ever.

johnnymysto

Thanks for this post. I'm anal when it comes to grammar, and my wife hates it. It's good to know there's another grammar nerd out there.

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jumpingbeans

to Whom it may Concern......Who Cares???!!!!!

did I get it right?

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mastboy4

who... whom... not like anyone cares

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BentNotTwisted

Great explaination and a great test. The test was great because I got 14 of 15 correct. Hopefully I will remember how to apply this when I actually need it. In the past I would usually just re-frame the sentance to avoid the word altogether (or guess).

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IS THAT IT ???!!!
Do you even know what 'it' is?

When the last man dies for just words that he said... We Shall Be Free

toxic515

simple answer... replace with He or him. you'll know. :-D

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torgone

I got 14, so I guess that makes me someone who knows whom to ask about whoever asks whomever about who's going to use whose choice of words. Or something . .

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Flesh

woo! my english teacher taught me this

filtherton

With the genius of he/him I got 15 out of 15.
Thanks for the tip.

ismark

I always had a problem with where and were, took me until I was 45 to work it out.

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