whom
whom — pronoun
1. the correct form of 'who' to employ when the person receives the action rather t
the correct form of 'who' to employ when the person receives the action rather than performing it; in formal contexts, use it after prepositions like 'to', 'for', or 'with', and when the person is the one being acted upon by a verb.
The woman whom I spoke to on the phone was very helpful.
whom as object of phrasal verb (spoke to)
Andrei is a close friend whom I have known since primary school.
whom in defining relative clause
To whom did the personnel department send the formal offer letter?
The professor, whom the students deeply admired, announced her retirement after thirty years.
Feng carried a heavy box upstairs for Mrs. Ito, for whom climbing stairs was difficult.
- who
informal equivalent; 'who' is widely used in everyday speech and informal writing where 'whom' would be the formal choice
文法句型
preposition + whom
whom as object of verb
whom in non-defining relative clause
whom in defining relative clause
用法筆記
Frequently replaced by 'who' in informal English, especially in spoken contexts. In formal writing — academic papers, official documents, business correspondence — 'whom' is expected after prepositions (to whom, for whom, with whom) and as the object of a verb. When 'whom' begins a question with a fronted preposition, the structure is noticeably formal: To whom should I address this letter? vs. the informal alternative Who should I address this letter to?