language note: Whom is used in formal or written English instead of 'who' when it is the object of averb or preposition.
1. pronoun
You use whom in questions when you ask about the name or identity of a person or group of people.
'I want to send a telegram.'—'Fine, to whom?'
Whom did he expect to answer his phone?
'You're too sensitive.'—'Too sensitive for whom?'
2. conjunction
You use whom after certain words, especially verbs and adjectives, to introduce a clause where you talk about the name or identity of a person or a group of people.
He asked whom I'd told about his having been away.
He likes to know whom you've met.
I have resigned, and they have a free hand to appoint whom they like in my place.
3. pronoun
You use whom at the beginning of a relative clause when specifying the person or group of people you are talking about or whengiving more information about them.
One writer in whom I had taken an interest was Immanuel Velikovsky.
The Homewood residents whom I knew had little money and little free time.
...generations of women for whom work provided an escape from family life.
who
English Easy Learning GrammarInterrogative pronounsThe interrogative pronouns who, whom, and whose are used only for reference to people.The interrogative pronouns which and what are used for reference ... Read more
English Easy Learning GrammarRelative clausesRelative clauses tell us more about nouns. They function rather like adjectives, andare found as postmodifiers in a noun phrase. The noun that is modified ... Read more
English Easy Learning GrammarRelative pronounsThe relative pronouns are the words who, whom, which, and that. person thing subjectobject who or thatwhom or that which or thatwhich or that possessive ... Read more
whom in British English
(huːm)
pronoun
the objective form of who, used when who is not the subject of its own clause
whom did you say you had seen?
he can't remember whom he saw
▶ 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
Word origin
Old English hwām, dative of hwāwho
whom in American English
(hum)
pronoun
objective form of
who
see also who
Word origin
ME < OE hwam, dat. of hwa, who
Examples of 'whom' in a sentence
whom
He did not seem to be concerned about whom his opinions might be hurting.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In secret she had known of a man on whom it had been worked.
Frances Hodgson Burnett Emily Fox-Seton (1901)
He was a man whom others trusted and was known for his integrity.
Christianity Today (2000)
He is the sort of man with whom no dad feels comfortable hanging out.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
So you have to be very careful about whom you go to.
Standen, Chris Superdog! Action plans that work for a happy and well-behaved pet (1990)
He was a man for whom the demolition of a church was as painful as the felling of a friend.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Then there are jockeys about whom we don't know enough.
The Sun (2008)
Also, be ambitious about whom you invite.
Aiken, Nick Working with Teenagers (1994)
Families harbour secrets; we know both most and least about those with whom we share our home.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
And he was really a very pleasing young man, a young man whom any woman not fastidious might like.
Jane Austen Emma (1815)
That trail has now been traced to a handful of officers and men from whom a chain of command leads to the Kremlin.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
whom
British English: whom /huːm/ PRONOUN
Whom is used in formal or written English instead of `who' when somebody does something to somebody.
The book is about her husband, whom she married ten years ago.