Subjective and Objective Cases part 2

Who vs. Whom

Don’t Say: Who is the present for?
Say Instead: Whom is the present for?

Here’s Why: Think about what role the pronoun is playing here. The subject of this sentence is “the present.” The pro¬noun is an object, the object of the preposition “for,” to be ex¬act. So it should be in the objective case, and that’s “whom.”

Tip: When deciding between “who” and “whom,” it can be easier if you use the “m” test: Think of how you would restate the sentence with the pronoun he/him or they/them, and if you use a form that ends in “m,” you need “whom.” For example, in this sentence, you’d say, Is the present for them? You wouldn’t say, Is the present for they. That “them,” in the objective case—with the “m” on the end—is your clue that you need the objective case form “whom” with the “m” on the end. Or you can figure out how you’d answer a who/whom question using he or him. In the sentence Who/whom was the friend you brought with you? you would answer “he is the friend” not “him is the friend.” Subjective case, no “m”—that’s the signal that “who” is correct.

Here are more correct uses of “who” and “whom”:

That’s the actor whom Sally adores. (Sally adores him.)

Can I tell her who is calling? (He is calling.)

Whom are you asking to the party? (You are asking them to the party.)

To whom are you returning these roses? (You are returning the roses to him.)

I want the people who did this to step forward. (They did this.)

Now here’s a tricky correct example that even “who/ whom” whizzes can get confused:

She’ll marry the man who she thinks has the finest collection of ties.

The “she thinks” gives a lot of people fits here: It may seem as if the pronoun should be the object of “thinks” and that therefore we need “whom.” But the pronoun is actually the subject of “has,” which becomes clear when we apply the “m” test. You wouldn’t say She thinks him has the finest collec¬tion of ties, instead, you’d say, She thinks he has the finest collection of ties. No “m,” so we need “who.” Many sen-tences follow a similar pattern when they include an extra clause reporting what people believe, think, or say.

Sheila, who I believe has the largest collection of fountain pens in North America, always writes letters on her computer.

My blind date, who you’d said would be “interesting,” proved to be just that.


Whoever vs. Whomever

Don’t Say: Give the tickets to whomever can use them.
Say Instead: Give the tickets to whoever can use them.

Here’s Why: You may have been tempted to say “whom¬ever” here, because it may seem to be the object of “to.” But actually the object of “to” is the whole final clause “whoever can use them.” Within that clause, the pronoun is the subject of the verb “can,” so the subjective case is required, and that’s “whoever.”

Grammatically, “whoever” and “whomever” work the same way that “who” and “whom” do. Wherever you would use “who,” you use “whoever,” and wherever you would use “whom,” you use “whomever.” “Whoever” can be used as the subject of a verb, for example:

Whoever took my belt had better give it back.

Whoever said that was crazy.

“Whomever” can put in an appearance as a verb’s object:
Please bring whomever you like to the picnic.

But these pronouns get tough when it’s hard to tell which part of the sentence determines which pronoun we should use. That’s what might happen in the first sample sentence, Give the tickets to whoever can use them. More correct examples of this tricky pattern are:

It will be hard for whoever wins to run the state.
(“Whoever” is the subject of “wins.”)

We’ll have to get whomever we can to do the job.
(“Whomever” is the subject of the infinitive “to do.”)