Who and Whom

The word whom is rarely used anymore, which is perhaps a shame.

Who and whom are both pronouns, words that take the place of a noun.  Who is a subjective case pronoun meaning that it serves as the subject of the sentence.  Whom is an objective case pronoun meaning that it serves as an object of the sentence.

The following method for who and whom works well in most cases:

Use who when you could answer the question with she, he, or they:

           Who won the race?
           She won the race.

          The prize went to the person who finished first.
          Who finished first?
          He finished first.

          Who can be calling so late at night?
          They can be calling so late at night.

          I forgot who is supposed to do the dishes to night.
         Who is supposed to do the dishes to night?
          She is supposed to do the dishes to night.

Use whom when you could answer the question with her, him, or them:

          The partner whom I was assigned to was terrible.
          Whom was I assigned to?
          I was assigned to him.

          The producer is Ms. Spencer whom you will be working with closely.
          Whom will you be working with closely?
          You will be working with her.

          Whom did the victim identify as the robber?
          The victim identified him as the robber.

          With whom did you hike last summer?
          You hiked with them last summer.