comparison
A practical test for choosing who or whom in modern writing.
If the answer would be he/she, use who. If the answer would be him/her, use whom.
Whom is less common in informal writing. In formal writing, it still appears in object positions.
Use this quick matrix to compare core words in this guide and jump directly into deeper lookup pages.
High-value alternatives
High-value alternatives
High-value alternatives
Example sentences pulled from our lexical corpus to show natural context.
who
Every person who is alone is alone because they are afraid of others.
whom
You don't marry someone you can live with — you marry the person whom you cannot live without.
whose
Being objective means not telling everybody whose side you are on.
Not outdated, but less frequent outside formal contexts.
In casual writing often yes, but formal writing may expect whom in objects.