Grammar · Sentences & clauses · B1 · Intermediate

Who vs whom

Last updated 21 July 2026

In short

Use 'who' when the person is the subject of a verb ('Who called?') and 'whom' when the person is the object of a verb or preposition ('to whom', 'the manager whom I met'). Quick test: if you would answer with he or she, use who; if the answer is him or her, use whom.

Who vs whom at a glance

	Who	Whom
Grammatical role	Subject — the person doing the action	Object — the person receiving the action
Substitution test	Answer with he, she or they	Answer with him, her or them
Example question	Who signed the contract?	Whom did the committee nominate?
After prepositions	Never directly after a preposition	Required: to whom, with whom, for whom
In relative clauses	The agent who sold the flat	The agent whom we trusted
Register	Neutral — correct in all contexts	Formal — often replaced by who in speech

How do you decide between who and whom?

Answer the question — or restate the clause — with an ordinary pronoun. If the natural answer is he, she, or they, the word you need is who; if it is him, her, or them, you need whom. The final m of him and them matches the m of whom, which makes the test easy to remember under pressure.

The test works because who and whom are simply the subject and object forms of the same word, exactly as he and him are. English lost most of its case endings centuries ago; who/whom is one of the few survivors, which is why it feels unfamiliar.

Who approved the budget? — He approved it.(he → who)
Whom did the board appoint? — They appointed her.(her → whom)
Whom is in charge of the rota?(the pronoun is the subject → Who is in charge of the rota?)

Why is it always 'to whom' and 'with whom'?

Directly after a preposition, only whom is possible: to whom, with whom, for whom, from whom. This is the one environment where even relaxed modern English never accepts who.

There is always an informal escape route: move the preposition to the end of the clause and the pressure disappears — 'Who should I forward the invoice to?' is fine in speech. The formal and informal orders are both correct English; they simply belong to different registers.

To whom should I forward the invoice?(formal register — preposition first, whom obligatory)
Who should I forward the invoice to?(natural spoken alternative — preposition at the end)
The families for whom the flats were built moved in last week.

How do who and whom work in relative clauses?

Inside a relative clause the same subject/object logic applies. If the pronoun performs the verb, it is who: 'the coach who trained us'. If a new subject follows the pronoun, the pronoun is the object, and formal writing uses whom: 'the candidates whom the panel shortlisted'.

In defining clauses there is a third option that outranks both in everyday English: drop the object pronoun entirely — 'the coach we hired'. When in doubt in speech, omission is safer and more natural than a misplaced whom.

The economist who predicted the crash now advises the ministry.(subject of predicted → who)
The candidates whom the panel shortlisted were all engineers.(object of shortlisted → whom in formal style)
The tutor whom guided my thesis has retired.(subject role → the tutor who guided my thesis)

Is whom disappearing from modern English?

In conversation, yes — most native speakers use who as an object ('Who did you invite?') and keep whom only in fixed phrases like 'to whom it may concern' and after prepositions. In formal writing, academic prose, and legal documents, whom remains fully alive, and quantifier phrases like 'many of whom' have no informal substitute.

For IELTS the practical policy is asymmetric. Using who as an object in the speaking test costs you nothing — it is standard modern usage. Using whom where who belongs, however, is a genuine error called hypercorrection, and it is the more damaging mistake because it fails the basic subject test. If you are not certain, choose who.

To whom it may concern: please accept this reference for Ms Osei.(fixed formal phrase)
Whom shall I say is calling?(hypercorrection — the pronoun is the subject of 'is calling' → Who shall I say is calling?)

Common mistakes with who vs whom

Real learner errors, corrected and explained — the fastest way to stop repeating them.

Whom is presenting the keynote tomorrow?

Who is presenting the keynote tomorrow?

The pronoun is the subject of 'is presenting' (answer: she is), so it must be who — whom here is hypercorrection.

To who did you send the original documents?

To whom did you send the original documents?

Directly after a preposition only whom is possible; the informal alternative moves the preposition to the end: 'Who did you send the documents to?'

The intern whom joined us in May has already been promoted.

The intern who joined us in May has already been promoted.

The pronoun performs the verb joined, so the subject form who is required.

He asked me whom was waiting outside.

He asked me who was waiting outside.

Inside the indirect question the pronoun is the subject of 'was waiting' — the verb that follows immediately gives it away.

The donors, many of who wished to stay anonymous, funded the new wing.

The donors, many of whom wished to stay anonymous, funded the new wing.

Quantifier + of always takes the object form: many of whom, some of whom, all of whom.

Who vs whom in IELTS

Grammatical Range and Accuracy is 25% of your Speaking and Writing scores — here is where this structure earns marks.

Speaking

Don't force whom into the speaking test. “The people I work with are great” is natural Band 8 English, while a hesitant or misplaced whom — especially whom as a subject — is a genuine error. Examiners reward accuracy and naturalness, not formality for its own sake.
One safe showcase does exist: quantifier + whom in Part 3. “I have several colleagues, some of whom commute over two hours” is easy to control, impossible to phrase informally, and lands exactly the flexible complex structure the Band 7-8 descriptors describe.

Writing

In Task 2, comma + 'many of whom / most of whom' extends a point elegantly: “Cities attract young graduates, many of whom cannot afford the rents.” One accurate use per essay quietly evidences the 'wide range of structures' Band 8 requires.
In General Training Task 1 letters, reserve “To whom it may concern” for the truly unnamed reader; if the prompt names a person or role, address them directly — register accuracy is part of Task Achievement as well as grammar.

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Check this rule in your own writing

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Frequently asked questions

Is it correct to say 'Who did you meet'?

In everyday modern English, yes — who as an object is standard in speech and informal writing, and it is perfectly acceptable in the IELTS speaking test. 'Whom did you meet?' is the traditional formal version, still preferred in careful writing. What is never correct is the reverse error: using whom as a subject.

Is whom outdated?

Not entirely. Whom has almost vanished from casual conversation, but it remains standard — and sometimes obligatory — in formal writing: directly after prepositions (to whom, with whom) and in quantifier phrases (many of whom, all of whom). Treat it as a formal-register tool rather than an everyday word, and it will always be correct when you deploy it.

Can whom start a sentence?

Yes, whenever the person asked about is the object: “Whom did the committee select?” passes the test because the answer is 'they selected her'. It sounds formal, and most speakers would say who there instead. A sentence can also open with preposition + whom: “With whom did you study?” — the most formal question order English has.

How do you use whom with 'some of' or 'all of'?

After a quantifier + of, the object form is obligatory: “I interviewed ten applicants, most of whom had strong portfolios.” The pattern — comma, quantifier, of whom — joins two would-be sentences into one elegant complex sentence, and there is no informal alternative with who. It works for things too, with which: “six proposals, none of which were funded”.

Does using who instead of whom lower my IELTS band?

In speaking, no — examiners treat object who as standard modern usage, so “Who did you travel with?” is safe at any band. In formal writing, prefer whom after prepositions and in quantifier phrases, where who would be a visible slip. The error that genuinely costs marks is hypercorrected whom in subject position, because it breaks basic agreement between pronoun and verb.

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