Words / B2

HOOM/huːm/

Whom is the object form of who, used in formal English after a verb or preposition: to whom; whom we interviewed. Who is the subject (already in the dictionary); whose shows possession. Name the minister to whom the letter was addressed. In speech, who often replaces whom. Do not write whom as the subject (“whom arrived” is wrong).

Meaning

The object form of who, used in formal English after a verb or preposition.

Examples

• “Name the minister to whom the letter was addressed, not who sent it.”
• “The people whom we interviewed stayed anonymous, which is the object sense.”

Good to know

to / for / with whom; whom + clause (object). Subject: who. Possession: whose. Formal letters and grammar papers. Object, not subject.

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