Welcome to Whoville, or is it Whomville?

One of the most confusing grammar topics is when to use “who” and when to use “whom.” How do we decide? Follow one of these two rules:

RULE NO. 1 – Turn and Substitute. Turn the phrase/sentence around and substitute the appropriate pronoun for who/whom. The key is:

Who = he, she, they

Whom = him, her, them

RULE NO. 2 – Do the Action, Receive the Action

“Who” = the person is DOING THE ACTION

“Whom” = the person is RECEIVING THE ACTION

Let’s try some examples using Rule No. 1:

Example 1 - An Atlanta man whom police said entered a counseling center with a gun waived his preliminary hearing.

Is whom correct, or should we use who?

Turn the phrase around and substitute a pronoun: “Police said (he or him) entered a center.” Of course, the pronoun should be he so we should use who in the original sentence.

Example 2 - The woman who Bob wants to date is married.

Turn the sentence around and substitute: “Bob wants to date (she or her).” The proper word is her, so use whom in the original sentence.

Example 3 – The raid resulted in the arrest of two men whom the police chief described as “major drug dealers.”

Turn the phrase around and substitute: “The chief described (they or them) as major drug dealers.” Them is correct, so we should use whom. The original sentence is correct.

Now, let’s try our same examples using Rule No. 2, do action/receive action: 

          Example 1 – An Atlanta man whom police said entered a counseling center with a gun waived his preliminary hearing.

Whom represents the Atlanta man, and the Atlanta man is entering the center. He’s DOING THE ACTION, so use who in the original sentence.

Example 2 - The woman who Bob wants to date is married.

Who represents the woman, and the woman is the object of Bob’s interests. She’s RECEIVING his interest, so use whom in the original sentence.

 

Example 3 - The raid resulted in the arrest of two men whom the police chief described as “major drug dealers.”

Whom represents the men, and the men are RECEIVING THE ACTION of being described, so whom in the original sentence is correct.

Now, try a couple on your own using Rule No. 1 or Rule No. 2.

1.   Smith, whom police said was speeding and drunk, was convicted of vehicular homicide.

2.   The man who gave me the package said it is fragile.