A hiring committee selected a candidate for the position. Which sentence is correct: 'Who did the committee select?' or 'Whom did the committee select?'
A'Who did the committee select?' — because 'who' begins any question about a person
B'Whom did the committee select?' — because the pronoun is the grammatical object of 'select'
C'Who did the committee select?' — because the subject always comes first in questions
DEither is correct; 'who' and 'whom' are interchangeable in modern English
The substitution test: mentally answer the question — 'The committee selected him.' The pronoun is the object ('him,' not 'he'), so use 'whom' (both objective forms). 'Who' would be correct if the pronoun were the subject: 'Who called the committee?' → 'He called.' Question word order inverts the subject and auxiliary, but the grammatical role of the pronoun stays the same.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
A teacher asks 'What color do you like?' then 'Which color do you prefer — blue or green?' What is the key grammatical difference between these two uses?
A'What' is more formal; 'which' is informal and casual
B'Which' implies selection from a defined or implied set; 'what' is open to any possible answer
C'Which' asks about people; 'what' asks about objects
D'What' always requires a noun directly after it; 'which' can stand alone
'What color do you like?' could be answered with any color in existence — the set of possible answers is open. 'Which color — blue or green?' constrains the answer to a named set. This is why 'which' sounds odd when no set is implied ('Which food do you like?' sounds odd without specifying options), while 'what' is the natural open-ended choice.
Question 3 True / False
In the sentence 'The detective questioned the witness who identified the suspect,' the word 'who' should be replaced by 'whom' because it refers to a person being acted upon.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
'Who' is correct here because it functions as the *subject* of the relative clause 'who identified the suspect' — the witness is doing the identifying. Substituting: 'He/She identified the suspect' (subjective form) → use 'who.' 'Whom' would be correct only if the pronoun were an object: 'the witness whom the detective questioned' (the detective questioned him/her → objective → 'whom').
Question 4 True / False
The interrogative pronoun 'which' implies that the speaker has a specific, limited set of possible answers in mind.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
This is the defining contrast between 'which' and 'what.' 'Which' presupposes a defined or constrained set of choices — it asks the listener to select from known alternatives. 'What' makes no such presupposition; the answer space is open. This is why 'Which president won in 1864?' implies a known list of candidates, while 'What do you think of Lincoln?' opens to any response.
Question 5 Short Answer
What two-step substitution test can you use to choose between 'who' and 'whom' in a question, and why does this test work?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Mentally answer the question using a personal pronoun: if 'he' or 'she' fits, use 'who'; if 'him' or 'her' fits, use 'whom.' For example, 'Who/Whom called?' → 'He called' → 'who.' 'Who/Whom did you call?' → 'You called him' → 'whom.'
The test works because 'who' and 'whom' are simply the subjective and objective cases of the same interrogative pronoun — they parallel the he/him and she/her distinctions. Question inversion often separates the pronoun from its grammatical slot, making the role hard to see directly. The substitution test restores normal sentence order, making the subject/object role immediately apparent.