Are you the kind of person who uses “whom” In your chats? Probably not, because “whom” is the great forgotten one. Why? We do not know, but the truth is that we are more used to using “who” or “that” , but we usually do not know how to use “whom” correctly (even natives!).
So, this post is dedicated to explaining it. “Whom” is the object form of “who”, and it is used to refer to someone when writing or speaking.
A little tip for knowing when we should use “whom” is to substitute it for “him” or “her”, and if it fits you use “whom” .
Let’s see some examples in which we can use “whom”, especially compared with “who” the subject form:
Who is taking Susan to the airport?
Her father is taking Susan to the airport
Whom is Susan taking to the airport?
Susan is taking Bob to the airport
Sometimes it goes with a preposition.
Who is going with Susan?
Bob/He is going with Susan
Whom is Susan going with?
Susan is going with Bob/him
Let’s take a look at a more complicated version:
Does Susan know with whom she is travelling?
Does Susan know she is travelling with Bob
It may look confusing but pay attention to the underlined relative clause. Susan, or She, is still the subject of the clause and Bob remains the object
Another example of using whom in a relative clause: “My science teacher is a person whom I like very much”.
But don’t worry too much. You will see natives using this incorrectly, but it doesn’t mean that you should!
Make the effort to check whether you are using the object pronoun and not the subject pronoun and you will be better than many natives…not a bad goal to set yourself, is it?
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