Who or whom?
The correct use of who and whom is a matter which many non-native and native speakers of English alike have difficulty with. The distinction between them is that who acts as the subject of a verb, while whom acts as the object of a verb or preposition. This distinction is not particularly important in informal speech but should be observed in legal writing.
For example, whom should be used in the sentence, ‘I advised Peter, John and Mary, all of whom are contemplating claims against RemCo Ltd’.
Who should be used in the sentence, ‘I saw Peter, who is contemplating a claim against RemCo Ltd’.
When who is used, it should directly follow the name it refers to. If it does not, the meaning of the sentence may become unclear. For example, ‘I saw Peter, who was one of my clients, and James’ instead of ‘I saw Peter and James, who was one of my clients’.
Which or that?
Which and that can frequently be used interchangeably. However, there are two rules to bear in mind.
- When introducing clauses that define or identify something, it is acceptable to use that or which. For example, ‘a book which deals with current issues in international trade law’ or ‘a book that deals with current issues in international trade law’.
- Use which, but never that, to introduce a clause giving additional information about something. For example, ‘the book, which costs €30, has sold over five thousand copies’ and not ‘the book, that costs €30, has sold over five thousand copies’.
Who, whom, which or that?
Who or whom should not be used when referring to things which are not human. Which or that should be used instead. For example, ‘the company which sold the shares’ is correct. ‘The company that sold the shares’ is also correct. ‘The company who sold the shares’ is incorrect.
That should be used when referring to things that are not human, and may be used when referring to a person. However, it is usually thought that is more impersonal than who/whom when used in this way. As a result it is better to say ‘the client who I saw yesterday’ than ‘the client that I saw yesterday’.
