Who or whom: a simple trick will help you determine when to use which word

In casual messages to friends or conversations with colleagues, it may seem that it is not so important to use perfect grammar, and the word who sometimes gives the exchange a formality that is inappropriate for the situation. But there are still many occasions when perfect grammar is necessary, such as letters to the CEO of a company, published works, or telephone conversations with picky relatives. When should you use who and when whom, the publication said Mental Floss.

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There's a great mnemonic to help you remember when to use who and when to use whom. Mentally replace who or whom in the sentence with he or him. If he sounds correct, then who should be used. If him is the obvious winner, use whom.

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This works because who and he are subjective pronouns, meaning they are used to indicate the subject of a sentence. In the sentence Who let the dogs out? the subject of the question is the person who released the dogs. If you replace who with he, you get an equally clear sentence: He let the dogs out. Neither whom nor him will work because both are object pronouns - you are replacing them with a noun that takes action in the sentence. Since you can't say Him let the dogs out, you shouldn't say Whom let the dogs out.

In the sentence Whom will you invite to dinner? you are the subject, and the person you invite to dinner is the object. Just as in the first example, it is easier to determine which is more suitable - he or him, if you rephrase the question into a statement. You will invite him to dinner sounds okay (if a little overbearing), but You will invite him to dinner is, frankly, hilarious.

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If you want, you can replace who or whom with other pronoun combinations, such as she and her or they and them, but the reason he and him work so well is that they sound the same as who or whom.

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