whom
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a formal way to say 'who' when the person is the object of a sentence.
the objective form of the relative or interrogative pronoun 'who', functioning as the direct object of a verb or the object of a preposition.
Simple“To whom should I address this letter?”
In context“The candidate, whom the committee had initially overlooked, delivered a presentation that fundamentally altered the board's perspective.”
UsageIn modern speech, 'who' often replaces 'whom' except immediately after a preposition like 'to' or 'with'.
Teacher's tipMany native speakers find 'whom' overly stiff; advise students to use it primarily in academic writing or after prepositions.
PitfallWhom is calling you? Who is calling you?Use 'who' for the person doing the action (subject) and 'whom' for the person receiving it (object).
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
used to refer to a group of people, like a sports team or a band.
used as a relative pronoun referring to collective nouns representing groups of people.
Simple“The team, many of whom were exhausted, celebrated their victory.”
In context“The orchestra, among whom were several world-renowned soloists, began the rehearsal with an intricate contemporary piece.”
UsageOften used with plural verb agreement in British English contexts.
Teacher's tipThis is a specific stylistic choice in formal British English; 'which' is a safer neutral alternative for learners.
whom vs who — Who functions as the subject of a verb, while whom functions as the object of a verb or preposition.
“He asked his wife Sereen, whom he met as a student at Manchester University, to bring in his laptop, an Ikea fold-up table, some synthesisers, a microphone and a guitar to his hospital room.”
“Around the same time, I emailed a group of 10 colleagues with whom I had been meeting throughout the semester, inviting them to join me in planning fall events.”
From Middle English whom, wham, from Old English hwām, hwǣm, from Proto-Germanic hwammai, dative case of hwaz (“who, what”). Cognate with Scots wham (“whom”), German wem (“whom, to whom”), Danish hvem (“who, whom”), Swedish vem (“who, whom”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.