Post by jeannerené on Jun 2, 2007 21:39:27 GMT -8
Rule. Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct.
he = who
him = whom
Examples
Who/Whom wrote the letter?
He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct.
For who/whom should I vote?
Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct.
We all know who/whom pulled that prank.
This sentence contains two clauses: We all know and who/whom pulled that prank. We are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. He pulled that prank. Therefore, who is correct.
(Are you starting to sound like a hooting owl yet?)
We want to know on who/whom the prank was pulled.
This sentence contains two clauses: We want to know and the prank was pulled on who/whom. Again, we are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. The prank was pulled on him. Therefore, whom is correct.
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Who – Whom
(The subject – object - subordinate clause confusion, as applied to questions, statements and sentence combinations, with and without modifiers)
The rules are different when spoken or written!
Who is a pronoun with whom as an alternate form.
Example:
Who wrote the poem? (subject of wrote)
Whom is the poem about? (object of about)
Qualification can be determined by substituting a personal pronoun test.
{She and Her}
She wrote the poem. (She being the subject)
The poem is about her. (Her being the object)
Simply speaking the question in this manner is a good test.
You would say; She wrote the poem, - NOT – Her wrote the poem.
You would say; The poem is about her. – NOT – The poem is about she.
When spoken - Who is virtually always used with respect to a spoken question.
However – the difference is applied when the question is in written form.
Spoken - Who should we name?
Written - Whom should we name?
Now… when compound or extended sentences come into play, where the subject and object can easily be confused, a sometimes key is in the location of a preposition in the sentence structure.
Example:
Give credit to whoever authored the poem.
(whoever being the subject of authored –after the preposition to)
I don’t know whom was given credit as the author.
(whom is the object of (verb) know – since no preposition is present “before” the qualifier – given, with reference to the (noun) author.)W
