Improve your English: WHO or WHOM?

When do we use "who", and when do we use "whom"? In this English grammar lesson, I will explain the difference between these two relative pronouns and when you should use them. It doesn't matter if you're a new English learner or a native English speaker – if you're not sure whether to use "who" or "whom", I hope that this lesson will erase your doubts. It's much easier than you think.
Test your understanding with the quiz: https://www.engvid.com/who-or-whom/

TRANSCRIPT

Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "Who" vs. "Whom". That's right, today we are going to look at one of the most commonly confused and asked about subjects in the English language, not just by new English learners but native speakers as well. So, we're going to use some grammar terminology, but I'm also going to give you some examples that will make it very clear what the difference between these two words is. So, first I'm going to talk about how to use them in statements, and after I'm going to show you how to use them with quantifiers, and at the end I'll look at some question examples with these two. So, let's start.

First: "who" and "whom". These are relative pronouns. Now, what this means is "who" is a subject relative pronoun, "whom" is an object relative pronoun. What does this mean? Well, this means that when you use "who" in a sentence to give more information about something, you are using it to give more information about a subject. When you use "whom", you're using it to give more information about the object of a sentence. So let's look at some examples first with "who".

Number one: "I have an uncle who works for Apple." Number two: "There's someone who is waiting for you." Number three: "Tom, who's been working here forever, recently found a new job." What do they all have in common? Well, they all have a subject, a person who you're giving more information about. So, I'm going to mark things up a little bit so you can see how this works. "I have an uncle who works for Apple." Who are you giving more information about in this sentence? You are giving more information about your uncle. So you have "who", and "who" relates to an uncle. Now, this uncle is doing an action. The uncle works for Apple. So, if you have a subject, you're giving more information about the subject, and the subject is doing an action after who, then you use "who". All right? "I have an uncle who works", he works for Apple. Next: "There is someone who is waiting for you." So we have "who". Who does "who" relate to? "Who" relates to "someone", a mystery person. So there's someone who is waiting for you. Yes, we are giving more information about someone, and the someone is doing an action. So here they are waiting. So I have someone... There is someone who is waiting. They are the ones who are doing the action. Next: "Tom, who's been working here forever, recently found a new job." So we have "who", I'm just going to mark "who's", "who has" been working. And yes, we are talking about Tom. And we are saying that Tom has been working here. So if the subject of the sentence is doing the action here, then you need to use "who".

Next: "whom". Three sentences. One: "Ghandi is someone whom most people admire." Two: "That's the guy whom she married." Three: "My best friend, whom I've known for 10 years, is getting married." So, what's the difference between these sentences and the sentences with "who"? Hmm. "Ghandi is someone whom most people admire." Yes, the sentence is about Ghandi. We are talking about Ghandi in this sentence. But also important: Is Ghandi doing an action in this sentence or is he receiving an action in this sentence? Here we have: "Ghandi is someone whom most people admire." The sentence is actually talking about the people who admire Ghandi. The people are doing an action to Ghandi, and Ghandi is receiving the action in this sentence. So, here, and this is true in most cases, after "whom" you usually have someone who does the action to someone else. So: "Ghandi is someone whom most people admire."

Next: "That's the guy whom she married." We see "whom". Who does "whom" relate to? Yes, we are talking about the guy, but the guy is receiving the action. He's actually an object here, because she married him. Now, I don't mean that the man is an object and the woman is the... An object in many cases, so I don't mean any of that. But grammatically, that's the guy whom she married. The guy is receiving the action of marriage from her.

And finally: "My best friend, whom I have known for 10 years, is getting married." Here we have "whom". Who are we talking about? Okay, my best friend, yeah. But my best friend is receiving an action here. I have known my best friend. Okay? So here, I'm saying I have known my best friend. I have known him or her. Okay?