Look up who, whom in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The pronoun who, in the English language, is the interrogative and relative pronoun that is used to refer to human beings. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun phrase. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. ... A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: wise man or knowing man) in the family Hominidae (the great apes). ...

The corresponding interrogative pronouns for non-sentient beings are what and which, and the relative pronouns are that and which. That and which are sometimes used in contexts where who might be a more suitable choice, and who is likewise used in contexts where that or which would be a more suitable choice. An interrogative pronoun (also known simply as an interrogative) is a pronoun used in asking questions. ... What can refer to: Look up what in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Which? is a subscription-only magazine and website run by Consumers Association in the United Kingdom. ... A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence. ... Look up that in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Which? is a subscription-only magazine and website run by Consumers Association in the United Kingdom. ...

In etymology, the spelling represents the expected outcome of Old English hwâ, while the actual pronunciation represents a divergent outcome. It is cognate with Latin quis and Greek ποιός. Disputed English grammar denotes disagreement about whether given constructions constitute correct English. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This is a paradigm of English verbs, that is, a set of conjugation tables, for the model regular verbs and for some of the most common irregular verbs. ... English has a large number of irregular verbs. ... In the English language, a modal auxiliary verb is an auxiliary verb (or helping verb) that can modify the grammatical mood (or mode) of a verb. ... In English as in many other languages, the passive voice is the form of a transitive verb whose grammatical subject serves as the patient, receiving the action of the verb. ... The English language once had an extensive declension system similar to modern German or Icelandic. ... The English personal pronouns are classified as follows: First person refers to the speaker(s). ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... A compound is a word composed of more than one free morphemes. ... An honorific is something that is attached to the name but is not normally used elsewhere, e. ... This article is focused mainly on usage of English relative clauses. ... Look up gender in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Old English: ) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Case forms

Traditionally, who is the subjective (nominative) form only. According to traditional Prescriptive grammar: who is a subjective pronoun (subject of the side clause), and whom is the corresponding dative pronoun (an object of the side clause). Whose is the possessive form, not who's, which is a contraction. See also: English declension. The subjective pronouns are pronouns used as the subject of a sentence; in other words, the initiator or instigator of a verb. ... In linguistics, prescription is the laying down or prescribing of normative rules of the language. ... The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given. ... A possessive pronoun is a part of speech that attributes ownership to someone or something. ... In traditional grammar, a contraction is the formation of a new word from two or more individual words. ... The English language once had an extensive declension system similar to modern German or Icelandic. ...

• He is someone to whom I owe a great deal. ("I" is subject, "whom" (relating to "he") the object)
• He is someone who is a great guy. ("who" is subject of the side clause)
• He is someone whose help ended my despair. ("whose" is adjunct to help, the side clause's subject)

Whom is falling out of use in informal English (increasingly, especially in American English, in some formal situations as well). In such instances, who has replaced whom as both the subjective and objective form. For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ...

Whom remains in significant use following a preposition^{[citation needed]} (see examples immediately below). In informal contexts, the preposition may instead be placed at the end (see preposition stranding), and the word who may be omitted where it is used as a relative pronoun. For example: It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with adposition. ... Preposition stranding, sometimes called P-stranding, is the syntactic construction in which a preposition appears without an object. ...

• (relative, formal): He is someone to whom I owe a great deal.
• (interrogative, formal): To whom did you give it?
• (relative, informal): He is someone (who) I owe a great deal to.
• (interrogative, informal): Who(m) did you give it to?

Rules for determining who vs. whom in traditional usage

Use with prepositions

Whom is the form used when prepositions are involved. Again this is analogous to personal pronouns, for which the objective form is also used after a preposition. For example: In grammar, a preposition is a word that establishes a relationship between an object (usually a noun phrase) and some other part of the sentence, often expressing a location in place or time. ...

• To whom have you been talking? (Compare: You have been talking to him.)
• For whom have you taken these marvellous photographs? (You have taken these marvellous photographs for him.)
• With whom are you going to the cinema? (You are going to the cinema with him.)
• He sent gifts to his granddaughter, of whom he was fond.
• He sent gifts to his granddaughter, whom he was fond of.

Forms with who in which the preposition does not immediately precede the pronoun are commonly judged acceptable in everyday use, and in spoken use especially:

• He sent gifts to his granddaughter, who he was fond of.

Indirect object with or without "to"

The indirect object is normally formed with to, so is generally just a particular example of the usage with prepositions (to whom). In some situations, whom can also be used by itself to represent the indirect object. However this is only really used in contexts where the direct object is omitted: The dative case is a grammatical case for nouns and/or pronouns. ...

• Whom will you tell?

In fact, the following is normally considered acceptable in everyday use, especially in speech:

• Who will you tell?

Where the direct object is expressed, to is generally included, even where an analogous sentence using a personal pronoun might use the pronoun as the indirect object:

• You will tell him a story.

But:

• To whom will you tell a story?

When the to does not immediately precede the pronoun, either who or whom is generally considered acceptable:

• Whom will you tell a story to? [Rather formal.]

• Who will you tell a story to? [Less formal, and more common in fact.]

Who(m)(so)ever

The distributive pronouns who(m)ever and who(m)soever take the case appropriate to their internal clause. For example, in

• Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone

whoever is in the nominative because it is the subject of is (cf. He is without sin), even though it is also the object of let (cf. Let him cast the first stone). However, in

• Whomever you meet there is bound to be interesting

whomever is in the accusative because it is the object of meet (cf. You meet her), even though it is also the subject of is (cf. She is bound to be interesting.)

A special case

A special problem arises in constructions like this:

• Beethoven, who you say was a great composer, wrote only one opera.

The form given with who is "safe", and even beyond reproach (since who is the subject of was). But many use and defend whom in such a sentence. The use of whom may arise from confusion with a form like this, in which whom is used according to the standard rules:

• Beethoven, whom you consider a great composer, wrote only one opera.

The King James Bible even has the problematic whom as a subject at least six times, and has been much censured for it: This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ...

• *?He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (Matthew 16:15; cf. Matthew 16:13, Mark 8:27,29, Luke 9:18,20)

In this case, whom may be appropriate because ye should only refer to the subject.

There are similar examples in Shakespeare:

• *?Young Ferdinand, whom they suppose is drown'd,... (The Tempest, III, 3)

By the standard rules given in this article, the subject of is here should be who.