Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse people. I have found the following to be among them:
WHO / WHOM
In recent times, the distinction between who and whom has faded in casual conversation and writing, but in formal writing or speaking, that distinction should still be honored, so it is to one’s advantage to know when to use which.
Who is in the nominative case and can serve as the subject of the sentence or as a predicate nominative; whom is in the objective case and can serve as direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition.
INCORRECT: You and whom else are going to the movies tonight?
CORRECT: You and who else are going to the movies tonight?
The pronoun who is standing in for part of the compound subject of this sentence, so use the nominative case.
INCORRECT: The lead actor in the play is whom?
CORRECT: The lead actor in the play is who?
Here who serves as a predicate nominative standing for the lead actor in the play. Because the complete subject of the sentence (the lead actor in the play) and the predicate nominative (who) represent the same thing, you can switch them in the sentence without changing its meaning: Who is the lead actor in the play? Thus both the subject of a sentence and the predicate nominative are in the same (nominative) case.
INCORRECT: You told who?
CORRECT: You told whom?
Here whom serves as the direct object in the sentence, the one who receives the action of being told, and so should be in the objective case.
INCORRECT: You lent who the book?
CORRECT: You lent whom the book?
Here whom serves as an indirect object, which is a part of speech that stands in for a prepositional phrase, in this case, to whom. The sentence could be rewritten: You lent the book to whom? In either case, whether used as an indirect object or the object of a preposition, the word whom, which is in the objective case, is the correct choice.
INCORRECT: And you would dare say that to who?
CORRECT: And you would dare say that to whom?
The pronoun whom serves as the object of the preposition “to.“
So, while I don’t advise addressing any letter “To Whom It May Concern,” if you decide to do so anyway, at least you’ll know you have the grammar right.
© 2024 Ann Henry. All Rights Reserved.