"Who" and "whoever" are subjective pronouns;
"whom" and "whomever"”are in the objective case.
As simple and important as that distinction is, many people have difficulty deciding on the proper usage of "who"”and "whom" in sentences.
The two sentences below illustrate the easy usage in which "who" is clearly the subject and "whom"”is clearly the object. In such simple cases, virtually everyone can determine the proper choice:
Who is that masked man? (subject)
The men, four of whom are ill, were indicted for fraud. (object)
As a ready check in such sentences, simply substitute the personal pronoun "he/him"” or "she/her"”for "who/whom". If "he" or "she" would be the correct form, the proper choice is who.”If "him"”or "her"”would be correct, use whom.”
This technique of substituting a personal pronoun for the relative pronoun works nicely whenever you have difficulty deciding whether to use "who"”or "whom".
Even when the word order must be altered slightly, you can use the technique:
Mrs. Dimwit consulted an astrologer whom she met in Seattle. (She met him in Seattle.)
Jones is the man whom I went fishing with last spring. (I went fishing with him.)
Joyce is the girl who got the job. (She got the job.)
Whom can we turn to in a time of crisis? (Can we turn to her?)
