Hoot Owls, Humans, and the Who/Whom Debate

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I’m here to talk about owls. Wait, no. I’m here to talk about “who” and “whom.” See what I did there? Here’s our sample sentence: “To [blank] did you give the secret package?” Should the blank be replaced with who or whom? [tik tok sound] The answer is “whom,” because in this case “whom” is the object of the preposition “to” – that is, the recipient of the preposition’s action. “Who,” on the other hand, is useful as a subject. You could say “Who is coming with me?” but you’d never say “Whom’s coming with me?” Not only is that super hard to say, but it also makes no sense. Don’t say it. We’re humans, not hoot owls. The long and short is: For a subject, use “who.” For an object of a verb or preposition, use “whom.” That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.