Who and whom,Direct and Indirect Object,

Who and whom

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Who and whom in formal English

English learners are sometimes confused when using who and whom. Who and whom are pronouns used in questions or in relative clauses.
In formal English who is used to replace a subject, while whom is used to replace an object.

Who

Who is a subjective pronoun.
Examples:
Leila is the teacher. -- (Leila is the subject of the sentence.)
→ Who is the teacher?
→ Leila, who is the English teacher, will give a talk about human rights.
The senators supported the president. --(The senators is the subject of the sentence.)
→ Who supported the president?
→ The senators who supported the president are happy with the new bill.

Whom

Whom is used to replace an object.
Examples:
You have met Alan. -- (Alan is the object of the sentence.)
→ Whom have you met?
→ This is Alan, whom I believe you have already met.
Nancy can ask her husband for help . -- (her husband is the object of the sentence.)
→ Whom can she ask for help?
→ Her husband whom she can ask for help is on a trip.

Who and whom in informal English

While in traditional grammar who is used as a subjective pronoun and whom as an objective pronoun, as it is explained above, in informal English, the normal practice is to use who in both cases (as subjective and objective pronouns), thus replacing whom in the contexts where the latter was traditionally used.
Examples:

• Whom did you offer the book to? (Formal English)
• Who did you offer the book to? (Informal English)

Grammar Exercise - Who vs Whom

Choose the correct answer (who or whom?)

1. To                         who            whom           have you offered the flowers?
2.                         Who             Whom           wrote that beautiful love poem?
3. I just want to know                         who            whom           made this delicious dish.
4. Do you know the man                         who            whom           is standing there?
5. My parents will accept                         whoever            whomever           I choose as my husband.
6. For                         who            whom           are you buying this present?
7. He is a kind of person for                         who            whom           family is very important.
8. Tell me,                         who            whom           told you this wonderful news?
9. The electrician                         who            whom           I asked for assistance was helpful.
10.                         Who            Whom           gave you permission to get into this room?

 correct answer (who or whom?)

1. To whom have you offered the flowers?
2. Who wrote that beautiful love poem?
3. I just want to know who made this delicious dish.
4. Do you know the man who is standing there?
5. My parents will accept whomever I choose as my husband.
6. For whom are you buying this present?
7. He is the kind of person for whom family is very important.
8. Tell me, who told you this wonderful news?
9. The electrician whom I asked for assistance was helpful.
10. Who gave you permission to get into this room?

and Indirect Object

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What is an object?

An object in grammar is a part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It refers to someone or something involved in thesubject's "performance" of the verb. It is what the verb is being done to. As an example, the following sentence is given:

Subject	Verb	Object
Leila	wrote	the poem

• "Leila" is the subject, the doer or performer,
• "wrote" is a verb that refers to the action,
• "the poem" is the object involved in the action.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

A verb can be classified as transitive or intransitive according to whether it takes or doesn't take an object:

• If a verb takes objects, then it is a transitive verb.
  Example:
  They played soccer. → (The verb play takes ONE object 'soccer')
  They sent him a postcard. → (The verb send takes TWO objects 'him' and 'a postcard')
• If a verb doesn't take an object, then it is an intransitive verb.
  Example:
  She lies. → (The verb 'lie' doesn't take any object)
  The building collapsed. → (The verb 'collapse' doesn't take any object)

Types of objects

There are two types of objects: direct and indirect objects:

Direct object

A direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?"
Examples:

• David repaired his car → his car is the direct object of the verb repaired. ( What did David repair?)
• He invited Mary to the party → Mary is the direct object of the verb invited. (Whom did he invite?)

Indirect Object

An indirect object answers the question "to whom?", "for whom?", "for what?"...
An indirect object is the recipient of the direct object, or an otherwise affected participant in the event. There must be a direct object for an indirect object to be placed in a sentence. In other words an indirect object cannot exist without a direct object.
Examples:

• They sent him a postcard - him is the indirect object of the verb sent. (To whom did they send a postcard?)
• He bought his son a bike - his son is the indirect object of the verb bought. (For whom did he buy a bike?)