In "The person who told my dog about the sandwich was unhelpful," who refers to "the person," which is the subject of both predicates: "told my dog about the sandwich" and "was unhelpful." Therefore, who is indeed the preferred choice. The person told my dog about the sandwich. We'll replace who with the noun/noun phrase it refers to, and split the whole thing into two sentences for clarity: In the sentences above, the subordinate clauses are "who told my dog about the sandwich" and "who my dog apologized to." To determine whether whom is the preferred pronoun, we need to figure out if the noun or noun phrase that who refers to is in the object position or not. Relative pronouns introduce subordinate clauses, a subordinate clause being a group of words that has a subject and predicate but that doesn't by itself form a complete sentence. The sandwich's owner, who my dog apologized to, requires a replacement sandwich.Īgain, some analysis is required to determine if who here is in the object position and should therefore technically be whom. The person who told my dog about the sandwich was unhelpful. Who and whom also frequently function as relative pronouns, which means that they refer to a noun or noun phrase that was mentioned earlier: To whom should my dog apologize? Relative Pronouns and Subordinate Clauses Reimagining the second question as a statement, "Who should my dog apologize to?" becomes "My dog should apologize to X." "X" is the object of the preposition to, so who should technically be whom: "Whom should my dog apologize to?" (If you don't like the terminal preposition- which is ancient and perfectly grammatical-you may prefer "To whom should my dog apologize?") We'll highlight the preferred versions: "X" is the subject of the verb told, since "X" has done the telling, so who is indeed correct. "Who told my dog about that sandwich?" becomes "X told my dog about that sandwich," with "X" standing for the unknown divulger of sandwich existence. With questions, the easiest way to do this is to reimagine the question as a statement. Who often functions as an interrogative pronoun, which means that it introduces questions that have nouns as the answer:īoth of these sentences sound natural with who, but if we want to know whether whom is the grammarian's choice in either of them, we'll have to determine if each who is in the object position. Let's look at some of the grammatical places who tends to appear and see whether whom ought to go there instead. Whom replaces who in spots where that word would receive the action of the verb or complete the meaning of a preposition. Who is a pronoun, which means that it's used instead of a noun or noun phrase to refer to a noun/noun phrase that has already been mentioned or that does not need to be named specifically. What exactly constitutes the object position in a sentence is where things get complicated.Īn object, in grammatical terms, is a noun or noun equivalent (such as a pronoun, gerund, or clause) that receives the action of a verb or that completes the meaning of a preposition-so, for example, sandwich in "They bought a sandwich" it in "My dog ate it" apologizing in "an appropriate time for apologizing" and that it was true in "I was afraid that it was true." It is simple in that it is simply the objective case of who, which means that it's the form of who that is in the object position in a sentence. A Detailed Guide for Hardcore Grammar Fans In these cases, it is perfectly standard to use who. " Who did you speak to?") in which whom may be technically correct but still feel fussy or unnatural. Our ears are our guides, and there are many constructions (like " Whom did you speak to?" vs. But English is extremely flexible, and actual usage doesn’t always follow the strict rules of grammar. The choice between who and whom can sometimes be confusing, and this has always been the case. What You Really Need to Know About 'Who' and 'Whom' When following a preposition, whom is the preferred choice (“ To whom should we address our thank you note?“). In grammar terms, that makes who a subject, and whom an object. “ Who sent us this gift?“), while whom receives the action (“We got this gift from whom?“).
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