Who vs Whom: A Simple Test That Always Works

Use who when the word is the subject of a verb, the one doing the action, and whom when it is the object, the one receiving the action or following a preposition. The fastest test is to answer the question with he or him: if he fits, use who; if him fits, use whom.

Both "him" and "whom" end in m, which makes the test easy to remember. It works for questions, for relative clauses in the middle of sentences, and for nearly all the awkward cases that trip people up, as long as you apply it to the right part of the sentence. Most of this page is about finding that right part.

Quick answer: Who = subject, like he/she/they. Who called? (He called.) Whom = object, like him/her/them. Whom did you call? (You called him.) After a preposition, use whom: to whom, with whom. In casual speech, who is acceptable almost everywhere.

On this page

1. The He/Him Test, Step by Step
2. Grammar Behind the Test
3. Where People Go Wrong
4. When Whom Sounds Stiff
5. Example sentences
6. US vs UK vs Australia
7. Common mistakes
8. Memory Tricks
9. Who vs Whom Cheat Sheet
10. Practice quiz
11. Your Shortcut From Now On

The He/Him Test, Step by Step

For Questions

Answer the question in your head using he or him.

• "Who/whom is knocking?" → He is knocking. → Who is knocking?
• "Who/whom did you invite?" → You invited him. → Whom did you invite?
• "Who/whom wrote this report?" → She wrote it. → Who wrote this report?
• "With who/whom are you travelling?" → I'm travelling with her. → With whom are you travelling?

For Clauses Inside a Sentence

When who or whom begins a clause in the middle of a sentence, isolate that clause and rearrange it as a mini-sentence.

"The engineer who/whom we hired starts Monday." 1. Isolate the clause: who/whom we hired 2. Rearrange: we hired ___ 3. Test: we hired him. 4. Answer: whom. "The engineer whom we hired starts Monday."

"The engineer who/whom fixed the server starts Monday." 1. Isolate: who/whom fixed the server 2. Test: he fixed the server. 3. Answer: who.

The key rule is that the form depends on the word's job inside its own clause, not anywhere else in the sentence. That single principle resolves almost every hard case.

Grammar Behind the Test

Subject and Object Forms

English pronouns change form depending on their role. You already know these pairs without thinking:

Who is the subject form; whom is the object form. In older grammar terms, whom is the "objective case." English lost most of its case endings on nouns centuries ago, but they survive in pronouns, and whom is the most endangered of them.

Pronunciation and History

Who is pronounced HOO and whom is HOOM. The spelling with wh reflects older English pronunciation; most modern accents simply say an h sound.

Both come from Old English: hwā (who) and hwām (originally a dative form, "to whom"). Over time whom took over the jobs of both the old dative and accusative forms. For centuries, careful speakers used who in some object positions anyway, especially at the start of questions. So the tension between "proper" whom and natural who is old, not a modern decline.

Where People Go Wrong

The Interrupting Phrase Trap

Phrases like I think, we believe, she said or they claimed often sit between who and its verb, and they push writers toward whom by mistake.

• ❌ The man whom I think stole the bike ran off.
• ✅ The man who I think stole the bike ran off.

Remove the interrupter: "the man who stole the bike." He stole the bike, so who is correct. "I think" is just commentary.

The Clause After a Preposition

This is the hardest case. A preposition before the clause does not automatically make the word whom.

• ✅ Give the award to whoever finishes first.

It looks like to should trigger whomever. But the object of to is the entire clause "whoever finishes first," and inside that clause, whoever is the subject of finishes. He finishes first, so whoever.

• ✅ Give the award to whomever the judges choose.

Inside the clause: the judges choose him. So whomever.

Hypercorrection

Because whom sounds formal and educated, people sometimes use it where who belongs. Linguists call this hypercorrection. A wrong whom stands out more to careful readers than a casual who in an object position. If you're unsure, who is the safer error.

Who in "Who Is It For?" Questions

Questions that end with a stranded preposition are a special case. "Who is this gift for?" puts the preposition for at the end, and who at the front is the object of for. Strictly, the formal version is "For whom is this gift?" In practice, "Who is this gift for?" is what nearly every speaker in every English-speaking country says, and it's accepted in all but the most formal writing.

After "Be": Who Is It?

Forms of be (is, are, was, were) do not take objects. They link the subject to a description of it, so the word on the other side stays in the subject form. That means who is right in every one of these, even though it does not seem to be "doing" anything:

• Who is the new manager? (She is the new manager.)
• I wonder who that was at the door.
• Do you know who the winner will be?

"Whom is the new manager?" is a classic hypercorrection. If the verb in the clause is a form of be, you can stop looking: write who.

Before "To" and an Infinitive

Short phrases such as "I don't know who/whom to ask" follow the same logic as everything else. Ask yourself what job the word does for the verb after to. You would ask him, so the formal choice is "I don't know whom to ask." Compare "She's the person who to contact" (wrong in any register) with the natural rewrite "She's the person to contact," which drops the pronoun altogether. In everyday speech, "I'm not sure who to ask" is completely normal; save whom here for formal writing.

When Whom Sounds Stiff

There's a difference between what is grammatically correct and what sounds natural in a given setting.

• In conversation, "Who did you go with?" is normal. "With whom did you go?" is correct but sounds formal, almost theatrical, in a casual setting.
• In a job cover letter, "the team members with whom I collaborated" reads well.
• In a text to a friend, "who r u going with" is perfectly fine.

Directly after a preposition ("with whom," "for whom," "to whom"), whom still sounds natural to most readers in formal writing. "With who" right after the preposition sounds wrong to many people, even in speech. When the preposition is moved to the end ("Who were you talking to?"), who is widely accepted.

Rewriting to Avoid the Choice

Sometimes the best fix is to restructure:

• "The client whom we met" → "The client we met" (drop the pronoun entirely)
• "Whom should I ask?" → "Which person should I ask?"
• "To whom should I send the invoice?" → "Where should I send the invoice?"

Dropping whom in object clauses is completely standard, and it often makes sentences smoother.

Example sentences

Everyday

1. Who left the back door open?
2. My cousin, who lives in Wollongong, is visiting next week.
3. Who are you taking to the formal?
4. The neighbor whom we asked to feed the cat has gone away too.
5. I don't know who that is in the photo.
6. Anyone who wants more pizza should speak up now.

Workplace and Email

7. "Could you let me know who will be attending Thursday's workshop?"
8. "The supplier with whom we signed the contract has changed its terms."
9. "Whom should I copy on the approval email?"
10. "Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Leeds project."
11. "Please forward this to whoever handles payroll."
12. "The candidate whom the panel recommended has accepted the offer."

Academic

13. Participants who completed all three sessions received a voucher.
14. The author, whom many critics dismissed during her lifetime, is now widely studied.
15. Respondents were asked whom they trusted most for health information.
16. Early settlers in South Australia, many of whom came from Germany, established vineyards in the Barossa Valley.
17. Researchers who study coral bleaching have raised fresh concerns.

News Style

18. Police are searching for a man who was last seen in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
19. The minister, whom critics have accused of delay, defended the timetable.
20. Fans who bought tickets for the cancelled concert will receive refunds.
21. The charity supports families, most of whom live in rural Queensland.
22. It is unclear who authorized the payments.
23. Officials have not said whom they plan to interview next.

Notice the phrases "many of whom," "most of whom" and "all of whom" in examples 16 and 21. After of, always use whom. "Many of who" is never standard.

US vs UK vs Australia

The grammar of who and whom is the same in American, British and Australian English. All three varieties treat whom as the correct object form in formal writing, and all three have largely dropped it in casual speech.

There's no meaningful regional difference in how often people use whom. In all three countries, it survives mainly in formal writing, in fixed phrases ("to whom it may concern," "for whom the bell tolls"), and directly after prepositions. Major style guides in each country take broadly similar positions: use whom in formal contexts where it's grammatically required, and don't force it where it sounds unnatural.

Some American publications and journalism style guides have taken pragmatic positions that favor rewriting sentences to avoid an awkward whom, and British and Australian editors commonly do the same. Australian English in particular tends toward plain language in government and business writing, which often means sidestepping whom through rephrasing rather than using it heavily. That's a matter of tone rather than a difference in grammar.

Common mistakes

❌ Whom is calling, please? ✅ Who is calling, please?

❌ The woman who I spoke to was very helpful. (fine in speech; for formal writing:) ✅ The woman to whom I spoke was very helpful. / The woman I spoke to was very helpful.

❌ She's the one whom I think deserves the award. ✅ She's the one who I think deserves the award.

❌ Give the tickets to whomever asks first. ✅ Give the tickets to whoever asks first.

❌ We met the players, all of who were exhausted. ✅ We met the players, all of whom were exhausted.

❌ With who did you speak? ✅ With whom did you speak? (or: Who did you speak with?)

Memory Tricks

him = whom. Both end in m. If you'd answer with him, use whom. If you'd answer with he, use who.

"Of whom" is always whom. Whenever you see of, to, for, with or by immediately before the word, it's whom, unless the word starts a clause in which it's the subject (the whoever case).

Drop it if you can. If you can delete whom and the sentence still works ("the colleague I emailed"), that's a sign you had an object, and also a sign you might not need the word at all.

Who vs Whom Cheat Sheet

Related pronoun puzzles show up across English. See who's vs whose for the contraction-versus-possessive problem, and "my family and I" or "me and my family" for the same subject-versus-object logic applied to I and me. For more help with formal emails, other ways to say "best regards" is a useful companion.

Practice quiz

Choose who, whom, whoever or whomever.

1. ______ is responsible for locking up tonight?
2. The tutor ______ you recommended was excellent.
3. To ______ should I address the complaint?
4. She's the colleague ______ I believe will lead the team.
5. The prize goes to ______ scores highest.
6. The volunteers, most of ______ were students, worked through the night.

Answers

1. Who – He is responsible; subject.
2. whom – You recommended him; object (or drop it: "the tutor you recommended").
3. whom – Directly after the preposition "to."
4. who – Remove "I believe": who will lead; subject.
5. whoever – Whoever is the subject of "scores."
6. whom – Always whom after "most of."

Your Shortcut From Now On

Turn the clause into a tiny sentence and plug in he or him. If him fits, write whom, especially in formal writing or right after a preposition; otherwise write who. And when whom would sound stuffy for your audience, rephrase or leave it out entirely. Readers notice smooth sentences far more than they notice a missing m.