Learner's Questions: Who, Whom, and Whose

Introduction

• Topic: Differences between who, whom, and whose.
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• Email for questions: learning.english@bbc.co.uk.
• Summary slide available at the end of the video.

General Usage

• Who, whom, and whose are interrogative pronouns used primarily in:
  • Questions
  • Relative clauses

Questions

• Who:
  • Used to ask about a person; it starts the question.
  • Example: "Who do you know?"
• Whom:
  • Used to ask about people in the object form; more formal, not common in speech.
  • Example: "To whom it may concern."
  • Often preceded by a preposition.
  • Example: "To whom did you speak yesterday?"
• Whose:
  • Used to ask about possession; acts as a determiner.
  • Must be followed by a noun.
  • Example: "Whose phone is this?"

Learners' Questions Playlist

• Available for easy access to all episodes.
• Email for questions: learning.english@bbc.co.uk.
• Reminder to watch until the end for a summary slide.

Relative Clauses

• Two types of relative clauses:
  • Defining: Specifies which noun is being discussed.
  • Non-defining: Adds extra information about a noun.
• Detailed rules are complex; refer to bbclearningenglish.com for more information.

Usage in Relative Clauses

• Who:
  • Represents a person; used as subject or object in the clause.
  • Example: "The person who lives upstairs is very noisy." (subject)
  • Example: "John's the guy who you met yesterday." (object)
• Whom:
  • Object form of who; mostly formal and used in writing.
  • Example: "The person whom I spoke to denied making any noise."
  • Preposition placement is important:
    • Example: "The person to whom I spoke denied making any noise."
• Whose:
  • Used to refer to possession.
  • Must be followed by a noun.
  • Examples:
    • "I know a baker whose cakes are delicious."
    • "It's the story of a dog whose best friend is a cat."
    • "That's the tree whose branches look like a ghost."

Conclusion

• Thanks to Rodolfo for the question.
• Reminder to email questions to learning.english@bbc.co.uk.
• Summary slide available at the end of the video.