Who vs whom
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.
The rule
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
Inside a sentence
Whowho (subject)signedverbthe contract?
Whomwhom (object)diddidthe committeesubjectnominate?base verb
- subject
- helping verb
- main verb
- key word
Which one do I need?
Who or whom?
Every answer at a glance
whom
Directly after a preposition, only whom is possible. In speech you can move the preposition to the end instead: Who did you write to?
The professor to whom I sent my proposal replied within a week.
whom
After many of, some of, most of or none of, the object form whom is required, and there is no informal version with who.
The course has forty students, most of whom work full time.
who
The person does the action, so use the subject form, just as you would say he or she. Whom here is a hypercorrection, a real error.
The engineer who designed the bridge is giving a talk tonight.
whom
The person receives the action, so formal writing uses the object form, just as you would say him or her.
The researcher whom the university invited has published widely on migration.
who (or no pronoun)
In everyday English, who is normal as an object. In a defining relative clause you can also leave it out: the tutor we chose.
Who did you meet at the careers fair?
How to use who vs whom
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
Find what is wrong in each one, then open it to check.
1Whom is presenting the keynote tomorrow?What's wrong? Show the fix
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.
2To who did you send the original documents?What's wrong? Show the fix
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?'
3The intern whom joined us in May has already been promoted.What's wrong? Show the fix
The intern who joined us in May has already been promoted.
The pronoun performs the verb joined, so the subject form who is required.
4He asked me whom was waiting outside.What's wrong? Show the fix
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.
5The donors, many of who wished to stay anonymous, funded the new wing.What's wrong? Show the fix
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.
Practise
Write your own
Write a sentence that uses who or whom, about you, your studies or your town.
Who vs whom in IELTS
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.