'Who' v/s 'Whom'

In an earlier post I had discussed relative pronouns 'That' and 'Which'. (click here to read that post) Now let's look at two more relative pronouns that cause a lot of confusion on the GMAT - 'Who' and 'Whom'.

The difference between who and whom is exactly the same as the difference between I and me, he and him, she and her, etc. Who, like I, he, and she, is a subject - it is the person performing the action of the verb. Whom, like me, him, and her, is an object - it is the person to/about/for whom the action is being done. (To know more about Subjects & Objects click here)

Consider the following two examples:

1. Who is going for the movie?
   
   
2. Whom is this movie about?

In sentence 1 'who' is the subject performing the action 'going' on the object 'movie'.

In sentence 2 'movie' is the subject and 'whom' is referring to the object of the sentence.

As a tip remember that if the answer to Who/Whom is I, he, she, etc. then the correct word is 'Who' and if the answer is me, him, her, etc. then the the correct word is 'Whom'.

For example, in Sentence 1 discussed above the answer to the question is 'he is going for the movie' and not 'him is going for the movie.' Hence the correct word is 'Who'.

Similarly, in Sentence 2 the answer to the question is 'the movie is about him' and not 'the movie is about he'. Hence the correct word is 'Whom'


To Sum it Up:

1. Who refers to the subject of the sentence and Whom refers to the object of the sentence.
   
   
2. If the answer to the question is I, he, she, etc. the correct word is 'Who'.
   
   
3. If the answer to the question is me, her, him, etc. the correct word is 'Whom'.
   
   
4. Whom is also the correct choice after a preposition: with whom, one of whom, etc. and not with who, one of who, etc.