Who vs. Whom

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Who vs. Whom

• Who- Substitutes for the subject.
• Who can be used only for subjects and subject
  complements.
• Example Who let the dogs out?
• Example All of the school bullies want to take
  on a big guy who they know will not hurt them.

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Who vs. Whom
Whom- can be used only for objects. Whom
substitutes for objective pronouns (him,
her) Example The tutor whom I was assigned to
was very supportive. Example Whom did he
question? Example Ask not for whom the bell
tolls, it tolls for thee.
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Who vs. Whom Trick and Tip

• When you have to make a who/whom decision, read
  the sentence twice. The first time, replace who
  with he/she. The second time, replace who with
  him/her. If the sentence sounds correct with
  he, use who. If correct with him, use whom.

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The She/He-Him/Her Method

• Replace the Who or Whom in a sentence with she
  or her and see if its grammatically correct.
• Choose Who if the personal pronoun is in the
  subjective case I, we, he, she, it, they
• Choose Whom if the personal pronoun is in the
  objective case me, us, him, her, them
• Note whoever and whomever follow suit

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Examples

• Who/Whom wrote the letter?
• Replace who with she
• She wrote the letter
• Replace whom with her
• Her wrote the letter.
• The correct pronoun is Who.
• She works in the sentence.

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More Examples of Who vs. Whom

• For who/whom should I vote?
• Should I vote for him/her?
• Should I vote for he/she?
• So, we know that whom is correct.
• Remember whom is replaced with him or her.

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And.more.

• Try another
• Who/Whom would be the best candidate?
• She would be the best candidate.
• Her would be the best candidate.
• Therefore, Who is the answer.

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Try some more

• We all know who/whom pulled the prank.
• Try it out
• She pulled the prank.
• Her pulled the prank
• Therefore, who is the answer.
• I asked who/whom they plan to send to the new
  island. What is the answer?

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Keep going!

• Who will be making the trip. They are not sure
  who/whom will be making the trip.
• Again, reconstruct the sentence
• Her will be making the trip.
• She will be making the trip.
• Therefore, the sentence reads
• They are not sure who will be making the trip.

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And, more.

• Who/Whom do you think has the best ideas for
  learning grammar?
• Turn the sentence around
• You think..has the best ideas for learning
  grammar.
• You think he/him has the best ideas for learning
  grammar.
• You think he has the best ideas.(correct)

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Fill in the blanks with either who or whom

• 1.She is the girl_____was employed here.
• 2. He is the man_____we employed last year.
• 3. Of______were you speaking?
• 4. _______do you think will do the work best?

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Your turn!

• Now write five correct sentences using who and
  five correct sentences using whom.