Who knows when to use whom?

Recently as I was typing an email and I couldn’t decide whether to use “Who” or “Whom.” Since my life aspirations include never sounding like the guy who works behind the counter at Bass Pro, I decided to look it up. Here is what you need to know:

WHO – This is a subjective pronoun (or nominative pronoun for you foreign language lovers). This means the person in question is the subject of the sentence, which means he/she/it is committing the action described by the verb. Here are some examples:

“Who brought the chips to the party?” (Steve brought the chips to the party.)

“Becky is the girl who runs the whole office.” (Becky runs the office)

WHOM – is a direct object. This means it is the recipient of the verb’s action. This can be tricky because most of us get this part wrong. A good rule of thumb is to answer the question or rephrase the statement in a complete sentence. Here are some examples:

“This is my son, of whom I am well pleased” (I am pleased with my son)

“Whom can we ask to call for help?” (We can ask her to call for help)

* Beware of prepositions! I can’t prove this, but I think they were originally designed to make you hate your life. Think of them as literary gremlins; they are everywhere and are trying to ruin your day. Observe:

“Everyone had a different opinion as to who they thought would succeed”

You might think this should be "whom," but this is where disappointment sets in. That pesky preposition changes everything. Since "who" is now the object of the preposition, it acts like a noun. (They thought He would succeed). If you get this wrong, don’t worry about it. Just avoid this sentence construction while speaking in libraries, English lit classes, or formal tea parties.