Whom versus Who

Whom versus Who

Traditionally, whom is used as the object of a preposition or verb.

To whom are you speaking?

He’s the one whom you met when you toured the campus.

I don’t care to whom you gave it.

She’s the one with whom I went camping.

However, most speakers of English also use who—usually reserved for the subject—as the object pronoun in all but the most formal circumstances.

Who are you speaking to?

He’s the one who you met when you toured the campus.

I don’t care who you gave it to.

She’s the one who I went camping with.

The change in English has not progressed so far that you should eliminate using whom entirely, but what you should avoid is using it incorrectly. It’s not a fancier form of who. It has different usages, and you should understand them before deciding to use whom.

Bad: Whom shall I say is calling?

Good: Who shall I say is calling?

Bad: I don’t know whom you think you are.

Good: I don’t know who you think you are.

In both examples, who is correct because it is the subject pronoun