Who versus Whom: Remember Just One Rule

Photo credit: rosefirerising via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Photo credit: rosefirerising via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Do you have trouble remembering when to use who or whom? It’s a common problem with a quick fix from a Grammar Girl video.

First, let’s get the rule straight. Use who when you’re referring to the subject in a sentence, and use whom when you’re referring to the object.

Subject: Ebenezer Scrooge is a man who loves to hate.

Object: Hannibal Lecter is a man whom everyone loves to hate.

HIMlich Maneuver

In the video below, the Grammar Girl shares an easy way to remember the rule, a method she calls the “himlich” maneuver.

If you can answer (hypothetically) a question with “him,” then use whom. For example, who/whom should we invite to speak? We should invite him.

This means you should use whom. Whom should we invite to speak? Watch the video and remember the rule:

Him = Whom

Photo credit: rosefirerising via Visual hunt /  CC BY-NC-ND

Read other stories with accompanying videos:

Writing Tips: Basic Rules to Remember About Comma

Oxford Comma: To Use or Not to Use? That is the Question

Do You Know What Makes a Book a Book?

Almond, Vanilla, or Coffee? Let’s Talk about Old-Book Smell

Just like Your Body, Your Mind Needs a Daily Workout

Why Do We Need Literature? Four Unexpected Benefits

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: