Who/Whom/Whose/Who's

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​ACT Review

Who/Whom/That/Which

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What is the Difference?

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To understand how to use who, whom, and whose you first have to understand the difference between subjects, objects, and possessives.

The Subject

The subject does the action.

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WHO is always used to refer to PEOPLE.

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He likes football. Who likes football?

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She goes to university. Who goes to SLU?

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The Object

The object receives the action:

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The employees respect him. The employees respect whom?

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They selected Kara to be captain. They selected whom to be captain?


TIP: WHOM is always after a prepostion (to, from, after, etc)

• Usually, you can replace "whom" with "him" in a sentence. I try to remember that both "whom" and "him" end with "m"

• The employees respect him. The employees respect whom?

Whom

• Typically, you can replace "who" with the word "he" in the sentence and it should make sense

• ​Who likes soccer? He likes soccer.

Who

If Subject and Object are confusing, try this rule:

WHOM Usually Comes After a Preposition

Prepositions are little words that show relationships—like location, direction, or time.

When a preposition comes before a pronoun, that pronoun becomes its object, and we use whom.

Examples:
✅ To whom should I address this letter?
✅ For whom are you baking cookies?
✅ With whom did you go to prom?

What Is a Preposition?

Definition:

A preposition connects a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence.
It often answers where, when, or how something happens.

Common Prepositions on the ACT:
about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, during, for, from, in, inside, into, near, of, off, on, over, through, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with, within, without.

“Formal vs. Conversational” Sentences

TEST TIP

✅ To whom did you give the book? (Formal/ACT)

💬 Who did you give the book to? (Conversational, but incorrect on ACT)

Categorize

Options (12)

if you can replace with “s/he” use this pronoun.

f you can replace it with him use this pronoun.

essential information, cannot be taken out of the sentence.

refers to things; it is nonessential; set off by commas

can refer to people in a general sense.

often used in questions about identity.

used as the object of a verb or preposition.

can be replaced with 'him' or 'them' in questions.

can refer to people or things.

can be used to specify a particular item.

can refer to animals or inanimate objects.

can be used to provide additional information about a noun.

Match the definition to its pronoun

Who

Whom

That

Which

Possessives 

Possessives tell us the person something belongs to

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His car is new. Whose car is new?

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This is her phone. Whose phone is this?

Who's

This is a contraction for "Who is"

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Who's in the car? = Who is in the car?

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Who's going to clean this? = Who is going to clean this?

THAT is used for THINGS. Often it defines them or is needed for clarity in the sentence.

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• Mark left behind the things that didn't easily fit into the trunk of his car.

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• We reviewed the questions that caused students the greatest problems.

WHICH is used for non-defining THINGS (info not needed) in the sentence. This clause can be taken out the sentence still makes sense.

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• ​My bike, which has a broken seat, is in the garage

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• Jan threw away all the food, which was far too spicy for her.

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• The train runs to Nagpur, which is its last destination.

Multiple Choice

How is "whom" used in a sentence?

• As a subject

• As an adverb

• As an adjective

• As an object

Multiple Choice

How is "who" used in a sentence?

• As a verb

• As an adjective

• As a subject

• As an object

Multiple Choice

Michaela was the only board member (that, who, which, whom) voted against the motion

• that

• who

• which

• whom

Multiple Select

If we want to talk about people, we use (who, that, whom, which).

• who

• that

• whom

• which

Multiple Choice

People (who, which, that, whom) live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

• who

• which

• that

• whom

Multiple Choice

Sensing the level of tension in the room, Rya didn't sit but leaned with his back against the wall, ready to launch across the table at (whoever or whomever)snapped first.

• Whoever

• Whomever

Multiple Choice

After all, (who or whom) knows?

• Who

• Whom

Multiple Choice

To (who or whom) have you offered your help?

• who

• whom

Multiple Choice

I need to know (who or whom) threw that pineapple upside-down cake at me!

• who

• whom

Multiple Choice

(Who or Whom) wrote that beautiful love poem?

• who

• whom

Multiple Choice

Do you know the person (who or whom) is standing there?

• who

• whom

Multiple Choice

The jacket, (that or which) has pink buttons, is on sale. 

• that
• which

Multiple Choice

Karen's test is the one (whose, who, that, who's) is missing.

• whose

• who

• that

• who's

Multiple Choice

The man (which, who, that, whom) robbed the bank had two pistols.

• which

• who

• that

• whom

Multiple Choice

Billie Holiday, (who, whom) my parents greatly admire, was a famous singer.

• who

• whom

Multiple Choice

Mario is the student (who, whom) the committee selected for the award.

• who

• whom

Multiple Choice

I saw a car in my driveway and wondered (who, whom) was there.

• who

• whom