Who and whom are two relative pronouns. These relative pronouns cause the most confusion among English language writers. It is simple to understand which one to use in a sentence. You just need to remember who is a subject pronoun and whom is an object pronoun.
Who functions like other subject pronouns: I, we, she/he, and they. In contrast, whom works like other object pronouns: him, us, me, her, and them. Generally, people do not get bewildered by the object use of pronouns. Object pronouns come after a modifying verb or preposition. For this reason, they are easier to identify. For example:
- Please give the girl to me.
- The woman bought them a cat.
The examples above show how the prepositions/verbs (bolded) precedes the object pronouns (italicized). The personal pronoun whom deviates from this sequence. In this case, the object pronoun whom comes before the verb or preposition that seeks to modify it. For example:
- Whom should I direct my anger towards?
- The man was as bitter as the twins, whom he described as sore losers.
You can use an alternative personal pronoun in place of who or whom to decipher the correct word to use. If the sentence works with an object pronoun you use whom. If it works with a subject pronoun then who is the word needed. In the first example, you can substitute her. The subject pronoun she would make no sense.
- Correct: Should I direct my anger towards her?
- Incorrect: Should I direct my anger towards she.
What Are Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns?
Two types of pronouns are subject and object pronouns. Deciding which one of them to use is dependent on the subject or action in the sentence. Subject pronouns are not the same as object pronouns. The subject pronoun will replace the subject in a sentence. The object pronoun will replace the object in the sentence. How do we do that? Once we have looked for the subject and the action in the sentence, we can determine the pronoun to replace it.
The subject of a sentence is the noun which is doing the action.
The object of a sentence is the noun that is having the action done to it.
This is shown in the following sentences.
- Bryce wrote a letter
Bryce is the subject. He is performing the action.
Letter is the object. It is having the action performed to it.
- Students (subject) ate their lunch (object).
- The clown (subject) juggled three balls (object)
How to Use Subject and Object Pronouns
Which pronouns belong to the subject and which pronouns belong to the object?
| Subject Pronouns | Object Pronouns |
| I | Me |
| You | You |
| He | Him |
| She | Her |
| It | It |
| We | Us |
| They | Them |
Subject Pronouns
Subject pronouns take the place of the part of the sentence which is performing the action.
- I: “I like running.”
- You: “You work hard.”
- He/She/It: “She draws pictures.”
- We: “We drink water.”
- They: “They play games.”
The following sentences show the noun and subject pronoun replacing each other.
- We learned about the Anasazi people.
- The class learned about the Anasazi people.
- She asked Lia and Ann to report on cliff dwellings.
- The teacher asked Lia and Ann to report on cliff dwellings.
Object Pronouns
Object pronouns take the place of the part of the sentence which has the action being performed to it.
- Me: “Tom called me.“
- You: “Mr. Thompson saw you.”
- Him/Her/It: “Jason likes her.”
- Us: “Mrs. Smith listens to us.“
- Them: “Mom emailed them.”
The following sentences show the noun and object pronoun replacing each.
- Like many civilizations, it depended on crops.
- Like many civilizations, Egyptians depended on crops.
- Little rain fell, but the camper used it to wash his arm pits.
- Little rain fell, but the camper used the water to wash his arm pits.
When using subject and object pronouns, the first step is always to determine which noun is performing the action and which is having the action performed to it. From there, you will know which pronoun to use in the sentence and where. Proper use of these pronouns will add to your writing skill and will create an exciting and smoother read from your audience.
Learn more about possessive adjectives in English grammar.
Subject and Object Pronouns | Image
