When should you use who, and when should you use whom?
It's becoming increasingly rare to see whom because most of us use who in all cases. Still, it's very easy to choose the traditionally correct word once you know the right trick, and here it is.
Consider the following sentence: To who/whom do I send this?
Here's how to decide which word to use:
Step 1:
Look at the words after who/whom; i.e. ...do I send this?
Step 2:
Rephrase these words to include he or him; i.e. Do I send this to him?
Step 3:
If it sounds better with he the original sentence should use who. If it sounds better with him the original sentence should use whom.
So, which sounds better? Do I send this to he? or Do I send this to him? Well, him sounds better, so the original sentence uses whom; i.e. To whom do I send this?
When should you use who, and when should you use whom?
It's becoming increasingly rare to see whom because most of us use who in all cases. Still, it's very easy to choose the traditionally correct word once you know the right trick, and here it is.
Consider the following sentence: To who/whom do I send this?
Here's how to decide which word to use:
Step 1:
Look at the words after who/whom; i.e. ...do I send this?
Step 2:
Rephrase these words to include he or him; i.e. Do I send this to him?
Step 3:
If it sounds better with he the original sentence should use who. If it sounds better with him the original sentence should use whom.
So, which sounds better? Do I send this to he? or Do I send this to him? Well, him sounds better, so the original sentence uses whom; i.e. To whom do I send this?
I try to remember this rule, but here's where I get confused. What if you want to say, "Give the money to ***ever is buying the food." My best attempt at plugging that into this formula would be to say, "Give the money to him. He is buying the food." which doesn't help.
However, my understanding is that to combine "whom" with "is" is a big no-no, so I would choose to say, "Give it to whoever is buying the food." even though my instinct would be to say, "whomever".
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