# whom

Pronunciation: US say "HOOM" /huːm/; UK

## Pronoun

1. The formal object form of the relative 'who', used when the person is the object of a verb or preposition.
   - Simple: A formal word for 'who', used when the person receives the action.
   - _Mr. Patel, whom you met last week, will chair the meeting._
   - _We have five staff, two of whom work from home._
2. 'The person or people whom', with no noun before it; archaic except in set formulas such as 'to whom it may concern'.
   - Simple: Means 'whoever' or 'the people that', in a few formal phrases.
   - _To whom it may concern: this is to confirm Ms. Ali's employment._
   - _He wrote 'to whom it may concern' and left it at reception._
3. Used in questions to ask what or which person, people or group (such as a team or band) is the object of a verb or preposition.
   - Simple: Used in formal questions to ask which person, people or group something is done to, for or with.
   - _Whom did the committee finally choose as its new chair?_
   - _Reporters wanted to know whom the senator had met during the trip._

## Origin

This comes from Middle English "whom," from Old English "hwām," the dative case of the word for "who, what" (Proto-Germanic *hwaz). It is related to Scots "wham," German "wem," Danish "hvem," and Swedish "vem."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/whom (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).