“Who” vs “Whom”

Are you often confused by these two pronouns, “who” and “whom?” If so, just know you’re not alone. There are thousands of professional writers who’ll pause for minutes to figure out which word between the two fits a particular sentence perfectly well. But today, in this article, we’re offering a permanent solution to such a problem. Just read on:

For a start, you can use the “m” test to determine which pronoun is right for a given sentence. For this test, all you have to do is to restate the sentence using he/him or “they/them” pronouns.

If you use “he” or “they” in the restated sentence, then the right answer is “who”.
And if you use “him” or “they”, pick “whom” instead. Here are some examples:

(1) That’s the singer (who, whom) the students wanted to perform.
Restated: student wanted him/her to perform. (Right answer: whom)
(2) (Who, whom) do you want to accompany you to the prom?
Restated: she wants him to accompany her to the prom. (Right answer: whom)
(3) Ask Agnes (who, whom) is calling.
Restated: can you ask Agnes if he/she is calling? (Right answer: who)
(4) (Who/whom) is supposed to attend the party?
They are supposed to attend the party. (Right answer: Who)

Before you become keyed up to take tests on who vs. whom, here are some more complex examples to tackle first:

(1) He will be marrying the woman (who, whom) he thinks is more adorable.
In this example, “whom” sounds like the right answer. But it’s not. The right answer is “who”.
Let’s restate the sentence and see.
Restated sentence: He thinks she’s adorable, he will be marrying her. (We’ve used she, so the right answer is who, as mentioned earlier)

(2) Nancy, (whom, who) I believe was the brightest student in the class, used to score the highest in English.
I believe she was the brightest in the class, and she could score the highest in English. (“Who” is the right answer)

(3) The girlfriend, (who, whom) you said was a hipster, broke my heart.
You said she was a hipster, and she broke my heart.

Please note; many sentences with extra clauses that report what we think, feel, believe or say, follow the same pattern; they use who instead of whom.