What's the Difference Between Who, Whom, and Whose, and How Do We Use These?

Table of Contents

When I was learning english, I didn’t know how to distinguish between who, whom and whose. So this post i am noting some keywords to remember. Some knowledge has been extracted from www.myenglishpages.com."

The main point

“Who,” “whom,” and “whose” are all relative pronouns used in English to refer to people, animals, or things previously mentioned in a sentence.

(source: www.myenglishpages.com)

Knowledge related

Subject, object and possessive

Before we learn about how to use who, whom, and whose. The improtant thing is to understand subjects, objects and possessives

• The subject is the noun or pronoun that performs the action of the verb in a sentence.

  Sarah is eating breakfast.

  In this sentence, Sarah is the subject because she is the one performing the action of eating.

• The object is the noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb in a sentence

  Sarah is eating an apple.

  In this sentence, an apple is the object because it is receiving the action of the verb eating.

• The possessive is a form of a noun or pronoun that shows ownership or possession.

1. This is my car. In this sentence, my is the possessive pronoun that shows ownership of the noun “car."
2. John’s house is in the countryside. In this sentence, ’s is the possessive form of the noun “John” that shows ownership of the noun “house."

What is the difference between who, whom, and whose?

Who, whom, whose can be used in questions or relative clauses. (source: www.myenglishpages.com)

In questions

1. who is a subject pronoun. It indicates the person or thing that performs the action of a verb

   Alice works in a bookshop. → Who works in a bookshop?

2. ‘whom’ functions as an object. It refers to a noun or a noun phrase that is affected by the action of a verb.

   They chose James as a leader. → Whom did they choose as a leader? ( James is the object of the verb chose.)

3. ‘whose’ functions as a possessive pronoun. It refers to who or what something belongs to

   Mary’s phone is lost. → Whose phone is lost?

In relative clauses

1. Who is used to introduce a clause giving further information about the subject

   The woman who is standing there is a famous Youtuber. → who refers to the subject ’ the woman’.

   Note: The dependent clause is: The woman is a famous Youtuber.

2. Whom is used in relative clauses to replace an object of a verb

   The boy whom I met is a singer. → whom refers to the object ’the boy'.

   Note: The dependent clause is: I met the boy.

3. Whose replaces a possessive in relative clauses

   The table whose leg is broken is in the kitchen. → whose refers to the possessive the table’s leg. Note: The dependent clause is: The table's leg is broken.

Summary

Who, whom and whose are all pronouns used in English to refer to people. Who is used as the subject of a sentence or question, while whom is used as the object. Whose is used to show possession or ownership.

Posts in this Series

• Common Phrases in English
• What's the Difference Between Who, Whom, and Whose, and How Do We Use These?