Using Who, Whom, Whose Correctly

There is often confusion about the use of „who”, „whose”, „whom”. To understand how to use "who," "whom," and "whose," first you have to understand the difference between subjects, objects, and possessive forms.


Examples:



I love movies. (subject do an action)
Mark knows her. (object receive an action)
Her bike is broken. (possessive form tell us the person something belongs to)

---> Who


"Who" is a subject pronoun like „I” in the example: I love movies. We use „who” when referring to the subject of a sentence or clause.


Examples:

The woman who answered the phone was very helpful.
Who made the birthday cake?

---> Whom


"Whom" is an object pronoun like "him," "her" and "us." We use "whom" to ask which person receives an action.

Examples:

Whom are you going to invite?
Whom did they blame for the accident?
Whom did he hire to do the job?

---> Remember:


„Who” or „Whom”? Ask yourself if the answer to the question would be he/she or him/her. If you can answer the question with him/her, then use „whom”. Examples:

A suitable answer to the question, "To (who or whom) did the prize go?" is, "It went to him/her." (It is improper to say "It went to he/she.") The correct pronoun for the question is „whom”.
A suitable answer to the question, "(Who or Whom) went to the store?" is, "He/She went to the store." (It is improper to say "Him/Her went to the store.") The correct pronoun for the question „who”.

Note: When „who” is the object, „whom”, with a preposition, can be used instead, but it is formal and rather old-fashioned. In modern speech, we use „who”, or we leave out the pronoun.


Compare:

They are referring to a man who no longer works here.
The man to whom they are referring no longer works here.
The man (who) they are referring to no longer works here.

The form "whom" is becoming less and less common in English. Many native English speakers think „whom” sounds outdated and in modern speech, especially when combined with prepositions, most people prefer to use "who" as the object pronoun.


Examples:

Who did she come to the party with?
We don't know who he gave the tickets to.
Do you have any idea who he sold his car to?



---> Whose
"Whose" is a possessive pronoun like "his," "her" and "our" used to refer to ownership (we use it to find out which person something belongs to.)


Examples:

Whose cell phone keeps ringing?
There's the girl whose car was stolen.



---> "Who," "Whom" and "Whose" in Indirect Questions


Such sentences usually start with a phrase such as: "I am not sure", "I don’t know" or "I don't care".When deciding whether to use "who," "whom" or "whose” first ask yourself if the indirect question requires a subject, object, or possessive form.


Examples:

We didn’t know who the boss of the company was. (subject of the indirect question)
I don't care whom you invite to your birthday party. (object of the indirect question)
She isn't sure whose dictionary that is. („whose” shows possesion of dictionary)



---> "Who," "Whom" and "Whose" in Adjective Clauses


Adjective clauses are used to describe a noun in the main sentence eg., I know the girl who won the contest (the adjective clause tells us about "the girl"). When deciding whether to use "who," "whom" or "whose” first ask yourself if the adjective clause requires a subject, object, or possessive form.


Examples:

We knew the actor who starred in the movie. (subject of adjective clause)
I hired the girl whom I interviewed last week. (object of adjective clause)
He knew the family whose car he bought. („whose” shows posssion of car)


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