Who vs Whom; Your vs. You're; Its vs. It's

Who vs Whom; Your vs. You're; Its vs. It's

Commonly Confused Words

Who vs. Whom

• Use the subject pronoun who when the pronoun functions as a subject or predicate nominative in a sentence or in a clause.

• Use the object pronoun whom when the pronoun functions as the direct object, indirect object, or object of a prosition in a sentence or in a clause.

When do I use who?

• Let your ear help you decide between who and whom. Consider replacing the pronoun in a question with he or him.

• If he sounds right in the sentence, use who.

• Who was chosen to go into space from our school? He was chosen, makes sense, so use who.

When do I use whom?

• Most people don't use whom at the beginning of a question.

• Who did you see?

• But, in formal writing, and speaking, however, and on grammar DFAs, use whom whenever the pronoun functions as an object.

• We saw him. The pronoun is him, so use whom.

Who vs. Whom

• Restate the question as a statement using a pronoun.

• Who will represent the school in the debate?

• He/She will represent the school in the debate.

• Him/Her will represent the school in the debate.

• He or she works, so use Who.

Multiple Choice

Use the pronoun in parentheses that correctly completes the sentence.

Jackie Robinson was an athlete (who, whom) inspired millions.

• who

• whom

Multiple Choice

Robinson, (who, whom) was the first black athlete to play in the major leagues, played second base and other poitions.

• whom

• who

Multiple Choice

Robinson, (who, whom) teammates praised, was feared by opponents for their hard work.

• whom

• who

Multiple Choice

Some players (who, whom) Robinson came across in his career were less than friendly to him.

• who

• whom

Your vs. You're

• Your is the possessive form of you.

• Your're is a contraction of you are

Multiple Choice

(Your, You're) arguments are convincing.

• Your

• You're

Multiple Choice

(Your, You're) doing a fine job.

• your

• you're

Its vs It's

• Its is the possessive form of it.

• It's is the contraction for it is, or it has.

Multiple Choice

The dishwasher has finished (its, it's) wash cycle.

• it's

• its

Multiple Choice

(Its, It's) raining again.

• Its

• It's

Multiple Choice

(Its, It's) been a apleasure to meet you.

• Its

• It's