How do i know when to use “who” and “whom?”?

Published October 22, 2010

Question by rocket summer: How do i know when to use “who” and “whom?”?
I’ve been getting a bit confused lately as to when to refer to the word “whom” in certain situations; especially when i’m speaking or writing.

Best answer:

Answer by LexiSan
Who is a subject, whom is an object. This means that whom does not take a verb. An easy trick is to count the verbs.

___ loves you?
^In the above sentence there is one verb, “love.” The sentence needs is a subject (“you” is an object because it is RECEIVING the action), so you would replace the blank with “who” and not “whom.”

Now take this sentence:
___ do I love?
There is only one verb and there is already a subject (“I” is the subject because it is DOING the action) so you replace the blank with “Whom.”

Who takes action and whom receives action is another way to think of it.

What do you think? Answer below!