Who vs. Whom

Getting it Right!!

The She/He-Him/Her Method

• 1. Replace the Who or Whom in a sentence with she or her and see if it’s grammatically correct.

• Choose Who if the personal pronoun is in the subjective case: I, we, he, she, it, they

• Choose Whom if the personal pronoun is in the objective case: me, us, him, her, them

• *Note: whoever and whomever follow suit

Examples

• Who/Whom wrote the letter?

• Replace who with she:

• She wrote the letter

• Replace whom with her:

• Her wrote the letter.

• The correct pronoun is Who.

• She works in the sentence.

More Examples of Who vs. Whom:

• For who/whom should I vote?

• Should I vote for him/her?

• Should I vote for he/she?

So, we know that whom is correct.

• Remember: whom is replaced with him or her.

And….more….

• Try another:

• Who/Whom would be the best candidate?

• She would be the best candidate.

• Her would be the best candidate.

• Therefore, Who is the answer.

Try some more:

• We all know who/whom pulled the prank.• Try it out:• She pulled the prank. • Her pulled the prank• Therefore, who is the answer.• I asked who/whom they plan to send to the

new island. What is the answer?

Again, plug in she and her:

• Answer: I asked whom they plan to send to the new island.

• Turn the sentence around: They plan to send her to the new island. Or, they plan to send she to the new island.

• So, her corresponds with whom.• They are not sure who/whom will be

making the trip. What is the answer?

Keep going!

• They are not sure who/whom will be making the trip.

• Again, reconstruct the sentence:Her will be making the trip.

• She will be making the trip.• Therefore, the sentence reads:• They are not sure who will be making

the trip.

And, more…….

• Who/Whom do you think has the best ideas for learning grammar?

• Turn the sentence around: • You think…..has the best ideas for learning

grammar.• You think he/him has the best ideas for

learning grammar.• You think he has the best ideas….(correct)

Fill in the blanks with either who or

whom:• 1.She is the girl_____was employed

here.

• 2. He is the man_____we employed last year.

• 3. Of______were you speaking?

• 4. _______do you think will do the work best?

Fill in the blanks, cont.

• 5. I will vote for________you suggest.

• 6._____shall I ask about this matter?

• 7. Give the information to___requests it.

• 8. Tonight, we shall find out____won.

• 9. She was speaking to the man____I met last week.

• 10. She is the girl_____we hired.

Your turn!

Now write five correct sentences using who and five correct

sentences using whom: