Using who or Whom
1. Who told you about our plans?
2. Who is our greatest scientist?
3. Whom did Armando send for?
4. Who are those women?
5. Who is your instructor?
6. Who is your friend?
7. To whom is that package addressed?
8. For whom shall I ask?
9. Who do you think can take my place?
10. From whom did you borrow that costume?
11. Who have people elected?
12. Who does she look like?
13. With whom do you plan to study?
14. Who is the new employee?
15. Who do I resemble, my mother or my father?
9, 11, 12, 15 are wrong. All of them are objects.
To determine whether to use "who" or "whom" in a sentence, you need to understand the difference between subject and object pronouns.
"Who" is used as a subject pronoun, meaning it is used to refer to the person who is performing the action in the sentence. For example, in sentence 1, "Who told you about our plans?" "Who" refers to the person performing the action of telling.
"Whom," on the other hand, is used as an object pronoun, meaning it is used to refer to the person who is receiving the action in the sentence. For example, in sentence 3, "Whom did Armando send for?" "Whom" refers to the person being sent for.
To determine whether to use "who" or "whom," you can try restructuring the sentence and substituting "he" or "him" in place of "who" or "whom."
For example:
- In sentence 3, if we rephrase it as "Armando sent him for," it becomes clear that we should use "whom" because "him" is the object pronoun.
- In sentence 6, if we rephrase it as "Your friend is he," it becomes clear that we should use "who" because "he" is the subject pronoun.
Using this approach, let's determine whether to use "who" or "whom" in each of the given sentences:
1. Who told you about our plans? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person performing the action of telling.)
2. Who is our greatest scientist? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
3. Whom did Armando send for? (Use "whom" because the pronoun refers to the person being sent for.)
4. Who are those women? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
5. Who is your instructor? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
6. Who is your friend? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
7. To whom is that package addressed? (Use "whom" because the pronoun refers to the person to whom the package is addressed.)
8. For whom shall I ask? (Use "whom" because the pronoun refers to the person for whom the asker will ask.)
9. Who do you think can take my place? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
10. From whom did you borrow that costume? (Use "whom" because the pronoun refers to the person from whom the costume was borrowed.)
11. Who have people elected? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
12. Who does she look like? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
13. With whom do you plan to study? (Use "whom" because the pronoun refers to the person with whom the studying will be done.)
14. Who is the new employee? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)
15. Who do I resemble, my mother or my father? (Use "who" because the pronoun refers to the person who is the subject of the sentence.)