Question
who's versus whom
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The distinction between "who's" and "whom" is based on grammatical role in a sentence:
- **Who's**: This is a contraction for "who is" or "who has." For example, "Who's coming to the party?" means "Who is coming to the party?"
- **Whom**: This is the objective form of "who" and is used when referring to the object of a verb or preposition. For example, "To whom should I address the letter?" Here, "whom" is the object of the preposition "to."
A simple way to remember the difference is:
- Use **"who"** when it can be replaced with "he" or "she."
- Use **"whom"** when it can be replaced with "him" or "them."
Though "whom" is becoming less common in everyday usage and often sounds formal, it is still important in more formal writing contexts.
- **Who's**: This is a contraction for "who is" or "who has." For example, "Who's coming to the party?" means "Who is coming to the party?"
- **Whom**: This is the objective form of "who" and is used when referring to the object of a verb or preposition. For example, "To whom should I address the letter?" Here, "whom" is the object of the preposition "to."
A simple way to remember the difference is:
- Use **"who"** when it can be replaced with "he" or "she."
- Use **"whom"** when it can be replaced with "him" or "them."
Though "whom" is becoming less common in everyday usage and often sounds formal, it is still important in more formal writing contexts.