whom

whom — pronoun

1. the correct form of 'who' to employ when the person receives the action rather t

1.pronounB2
Definition

the correct form of 'who' to employ when the person receives the action rather than performing it; in formal contexts, use it after prepositions like 'to', 'for', or 'with', and when the person is the one being acted upon by a verb.

Example

The woman whom I spoke to on the phone was very helpful.

whom as object of phrasal verb (spoke to)

Andrei is a close friend whom I have known since primary school.

whom in defining relative clause

Common collocations
  • to whom
  • for whom
  • with whom
  • of whom
  • by whom
  • some of whom
  • most of whom
  • all of whom
Synonyms
  • who

    informal equivalent; 'who' is widely used in everyday speech and informal writing where 'whom' would be the formal choice

Grammar Patterns

preposition + whom

whom as object of verb

whom in non-defining relative clause

whom in defining relative clause

Usage Note

Frequently replaced by 'who' in informal English, especially in spoken contexts. In formal writing — academic papers, official documents, business correspondence — 'whom' is expected after prepositions (to whom, for whom, with whom) and as the object of a verb. When 'whom' begins a question with a fronted preposition, the structure is noticeably formal: To whom should I address this letter? vs. the informal alternative Who should I address this letter to?

Common Mistakes

The woman who I met yesterday is my new neighbour.' (informally acceptable, but formally incorrect when the person is the object)
The woman whom I met yesterday is my new neighbour.
In formal English, 'whom' is the object form of 'who'.
To who did you give the report?
To whom did you give the report?
After a preposition ('to', 'for', 'with', 'of'), the formal rule requires 'whom' instead of 'who'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: pronoun/1

Both 'whom' and 'who' refer to people, but they differ in grammatical case. 'Who' is the subject form (Who wrote this letter?) while 'whom' is the object form (Whom did you write to?). In everyday conversation, 'who' has largely replaced 'whom' even in object position, making 'whom' sound formal or even old-fashioned to some speakers. However, in academic and professional writing, the distinction is still observed. 'Which' refers to things and animals, never to people (The book which I read), so it is not a substitute for either 'who' or 'whom'. A useful test: if you can replace the word with 'he/she' (subject), use 'who'; if 'him/her' (object) fits, use 'whom'. For example: 'The student whom I helped' — 'I helped him' → 'whom'; 'The student who helped me' — 'He helped me' → 'who'.

whom ↗who ↗which ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • some of whom
  • many of whom
  • most of whom
  • all of whom
  • none of whom
  • each of whom

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Whom comes from Old English 'hwām', the dative (indirect-object) form of 'hwā' (who). In Old English, nouns and pronouns changed their endings to show their role in a sentence — subject, object, or possessor. The dative case marked the person affected by an action (give something to someone). Over centuries, as English lost most of its case endings, 'whom' survived as the only distinct object-case pronoun for people, alongside 'who' (subject) and 'whose' (possessive).