pronoun
Usage
It was formerly considered correct to use whom whenever the objective form of who was required. This is no longer thought to be necessary and the objective form who is now commonly used, even in formal writing: there were several people there who he had met before . Who cannot be used directly after a preposition – the preposition is usually displaced, as in the man ( who ) he sold his car to . In formal writing whom is preferred in sentences like these: the man to whom he sold his car . There are some types of sentence in which who cannot be used: the refugees, many of whom were old and ill, were allowed across the border
Commonly Confused
See who .
Etymology
Origin of whom
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hwām, dative of interrogative pronoun hwā who
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The company has since said that it has severed ties with both agencies, and responded to other concerns by giving communities more power to decide whom to grant access to state or nationwide lookup networks.
From Los Angeles Times
By donating the equipment, neighborhood groups may get to control what type of technology is installed and by whom.
From Los Angeles Times
Opalite features Norton, Gleeson, Capaldi, and a cameo voiceover from Irish actor Cillian Murphy, all of whom appeared on The Graham Norton Show with Swift in October.
From BBC
Khomeini would become his mentor, a figure to whom he remained ever loyal, running secret missions for him while Khomeini lived in exile.
From Los Angeles Times
To whom did they make car payments?
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
