who vs. whom

/ Erin Servais

A few weeks ago, I was listening to an episode of my very favorite podcast, A Way With Words. (Seriously, if you’re a word nerd, you need to check this out.) A woman called in to the show to share what I think is the best mnemonic device for remembering whether to use who or whom in a sentence. To get in the right spirit, you have to imagine sitting around a campfire and chanting a little chant that goes:

Him-ah, Whom-ah . . . He-who!

(I’ll pause here so you can practice the chant. Go ahead. Unless you’re on the bus or in the office, no one is going to hear you. And even if you’re in public, so what?)

What this chant is explaining is that if the who or whom in a sentence can refer to the word him, then you should use whom. Thus “Him-ha, Whom-ah.”

Example: Whom did you invite to the Saturnalia party? I invited him.

The chant also explains that if the who or whom in a sentence can refer to the word he, then you should use who. Thus “He-who.”

Example: Who made these Saturnalia presents? He made them.

Let’s chant it one more time for good measure. . . . Him-ah, Whom-ah . . . He-who! (Feels great, doesn’t it?)

Dot and Dash social media content calendar

Click here and never worry about coming up with social-media posts again: https://www.etsy.com/listing/766512443/on-sale-social-media-content-calendar

grammatical awesomeness behind who vs. whom
The grammatical rules behind this chant deal with subjects and objects.

Who is a subject, which is a person or a thing that is doing the action of a sentence.

Let’s look again at our who example: Who made these Saturnalia presents?

Here, who is the subject of the sentence because it refers to the person who did the action of making the presents.

However, whom is an object, which is the person or thing that is having the action of the sentence done to them.

Let’s look again at our whom example: Whom did you invite to the Saturnalia party?

Here, whom is the object because it refers to the person who is receiving the action of being invited to the party.

quiz
Test your who vs. whom skills with a little quiz. The answers are at the bottom.

  1. _______ made this huge mess?
  2. _______ should we blame for this stench?
  3. They hired _______ to clean up this rubbish?
  4. ______ said he likes the smell?

Answers: 1. who 2. whom 3. whom 4. who

Erin Servais is the founder of Dot and Dash, LLC, an author-services company focusing on women writers and offering a range of editing, coaching, and social media packages.

Sign up for the Dot and Dash newsletter to get writing tips and tricks and exclusive deals.  

Follow Dot and Dash on social media.
Twitter: @GrammarParty
Instagram: @dot_and_dash_llc
Facebook: facebook.com/dotanddashllc
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/dotanddashllc

 

7 thoughts on “who vs. whom”

  2. It is a great chant. I wish I had come up with it. And, trust me, it works. I can’t tell you how many times since I learned it that I have said it in my head while I was editing. It’s a lot quicker than breaking down sentence structure. . . .

    And thanks for the nice comment!

    Like

    Reply

  3. I learned decades ago to use the him/whom mnemonic device. If “him” works in the sentence, then use “whom” — they both end in M. But it doesn’t always work, especially in declarative sentences or more complex constructions. (Notice that all your examples are questions?) Consider: I will vote for whoever will lower my taxes. I could never figure out how the mnemonic would work in that sentence; you just have to know that “whoever” is correct because it’s the subject of the verb “will lower.”

    Although I know the difference between “who” and “whom,” I wish the distinction would just go away. I don’t know how it aids communication to use “whom” instead of “who” in the sentence “Whom would you ask?” If I never heard the word “whom” again, I’d be just fine.

    Like

    Reply

  4. I have nominated your blog for the Liebster Award.

    This nomination process is from fellow bloggers who are supporting blogs of fewer than 200 followers.

    There are a few requirements that come with this award. They are:

    1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
    2. Reveal your top 5 picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
    3. Post the award on your blog.
    4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogsphere – other bloggers.
    5. And, best of all – have fun and spread the karma.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment