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ブログ / Who, Whom, Which, or That? Real Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Who, Whom, Which, or That? Real Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Use who for people and that or which for things. Use whom when the person is the object of a verb or follows a preposition. The examples below are real sentences that people sent to Proofread Bot.
The corrections are written in formal, academic English, so contractions are spelled out in full. Where a contracted or colloquial form is common in everyday writing, it is shown underneath as the informal version.
1. "Who" for things, "that" for people
✓ Her phone is the one that overheats frequently.
✓ Companies that use green manufacturing can obtain grants.
✓ Kate is a girl who likes cake.
✓ She is someone who is kind.
Companies, organizations, and teams are things, even though they are made up of people, so formal writing uses that or which. Using "that" for a person ("a girl that likes cake") is common in speech and not strictly an error, but who is preferred in academic writing.
2. Who or whom?
Who does the action; whom receives it. The test: answer the question with "he" or "him." If "he" fits, use who; if "him" fits, use whom. Who = he, whom = him (both "whom" and "him" end in m).
✓ Who ate the apple?
✓ Who will walk the dog?
✓ To whom was the gift given, and by whom was it given?
✓ To whom did the prize go?
✓ From whom did you learn that?
Informal: Who did you learn that from?
"He ate the apple," so who. "The gift was given to him," so whom. Directly after a preposition (to, by, from, with), it is always whom. In conversation, "who" is widely used in every position, which is why the last example has an acceptable informal version.
3. That or which?
In American English, that introduces information that is essential to the meaning, without commas; which introduces extra information, set off by commas.
- "The report that I submitted on Monday was rejected." This identifies which report.
- "The report, which I submitted on Monday, was rejected." There is only one report; the day is extra information.
British English is more relaxed and also allows which without commas for essential information. Whichever convention you follow, the comma rule is the important part: essential information takes no commas.
4. A simpler alternative: "where"
✓ This is the store where I bought my car.
"In which" is grammatically correct, but for places, where is often clearer and more natural, even in formal writing.
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