10 Notable Differences Between Who And Whom -With Examples

Filed in Articles by on January 18, 2022

– Who And Whom –

Difference between who and whom: Who and Whom are the category of wh-word, these words popularly used to ask questions or introduce a clause in a sentence. The word ‘who’ suggests the subjective case while ‘whom’ denotes the objective case as interrogative pronouns.

Here is the major distinction between both words:  when we make use of the word ‘who‘ when referring to the subject of a sentence, we use ‘whom‘ if we talk about the object of the verb.

Who

In English, we use the word who to ask questions about which person or people not for things or objects, i.e. to know about the subject of the verb. The person who performs an action is referred to as the subject, meaning that the subject is the doer of the action. Now let’s understand where to use who in our sentences:

1. It is used as the subject, to ask which person:

Who is that priest?
Who is your teacher?
Who entered your room last night?

2. It can also be used to express which person you are addressing or to add a clause that gives some more information about the person discussed:

It may be Hrithik, who knocked on the door.
Palak is one of those, who loves to play with kids.

3. It can also be used to ask the name of the person or group of people:

Who is the Author of that book?
Who is the designed the national flag?

4. It can also be used to talk about the person in a particular way:

Who likes Eminem’s new song?
Who is the fattest?

Whom

Basically, whom is nothing but the objective form of the word ‘who’, which is often used in the formal sense as an object of the verb. It tells you which person is receiving the action. You can use whom, in the following ways:

To add relative clauses in the sentence and add further information:

She called a lady, whom she met yesterday.
I wish I could be the person, whom I always dream.
David used to appreciate his student’s efforts, whom he teaches.

To ask questions:

Whom should I report?
Whom did they take help?

3. It can be used before a preposition, to ask an indirect question, about someone:

I don’t know, for whom she is sacrificing her stardom.
He just asked me, with whom I was going to London.

Notable Differences Between Who And Whom

1. The word ‘who’ is used to refer to the person or people we are talking about. As against, ‘whom’ is used when we talk about the person to which the action is directed.

2. Who is used as a subjective pronoun, i.e. it tells you about the subject of the verb. On the contrary, ‘whom’ is an objective pronoun, that highlights the object of the verb.

3. The form “whom” is becoming less and less common in English.

4. Who and Whom are used to ask questions or introduce a clause in a sentence.

5. Example: Who came to our house at night?

   Whom did you ask for the money?

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CSN Team.

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