Who Does It To Whom

Who does it to whom. That’s the rule of when to use “who” and “whom.” It’s as simple as that. Dan Santow, whose (another “who” word) Word Wise is a fun read, summarizes the who/whom “controversy”:

Okay, enough qualifying. Who is a subject. Whom is an object. Who does something. Whom has something done to it. In other words, who does it to whom.

Simple enough. Write clearly. Say what you mean. And don’t worry about who/whom taught you twisted English in 8th Grade. As Winston Churchill once said to a civil servant objecting to ending sentences in prepositions:

This is the kind of tedious [sometimes "pedantic"] nonsense up with which I will not put!

About the Author

Frank Roche

Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.

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