The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

Use who as the subject, and use whom as the object. Here's a trick, the subject generally comes before the verb, and the object comes after the verb:

Pat gave Max a book.
Who gave whom . . . .

Prepositions also have objects:

Pat gave the book to Max.
Pat gave the book to whom?

With the passive, the subject and the object switch positions, so the object comes before the verb:

Max was given a book.
*Whom was given a book? (edited; thanks Mr P.)
Who was given the book?

"Who" comes before the verb. "Whom" comes before a preposition or after the verb:

To whom as the book given?
The book was given to whom?
Who gave whom the book?

Speakers often shorten "whom" to "who":

Pat gave Max a book.
Who gave who . . . .

Max was given a book.
Who was given a book?

Pat gave the book to Max.
Who gave the book to who?

If in doubt, look for the verb. It will guide you:

Active: who VERB whom
Passive: whom VERB
When there's a preposition: PREPOSITION whom

If it's a question, put it back into a statement:

Question: Who/Whom did you speak with?
Statement: I spoke with whom? ('with' is a preposition)

JTT wrote: I'm confused by something you've said here, Casi. Are you saying that "Max" is the object in the sentence, "Max was given a book." ?

Yes. That's correct, JTT. "Max" has a dual function: It's the structural subject but it's also the semantic object (indirect kind) of the verb. Does that help ease your confusion?

Max (IO) was given the book (DO).

IO = indirect object
DO = direct object

Hello Casi

I think we would say;
Who/Whom was the book given to?
but we can't say;
(*) Who/Whom was given the book?

paco

Thanks, Paco, I'd forgotten about that thread!

Since we're discussing passive constructions ('who was given the book?') rather than active constructions ('to whom did you give the book?'), it might be easier to take an example whose 'active version' doesn't contain an indirect object:

1. Who was killed? – subject pronoun 'who' in passive construction.
2. Whom did you kill? – object pronoun 'whom' in active construction.

It's also very common to use 'who' instead of 'whom' in sentences like #2:

3. Who did you kill? – object pronoun 'who' in active construction.

MrP