My car, which is 20 years old, isn't worth much. We use which to refer to a thing or an idea, and to ask about choices. The person who answered the phone was very helpful. Who ate all the chocolates Who called the police The man who witnessed the accident called the police.

'The girl is my friend's ex-girlfriend.' - 'The girl' is the subject of 'is.' This sentence is the independent clause in your example. We use who when referring to people or when we want to know the person. 'I saw the girl at the party.' - 'The girl' is the object of 'saw.' This sentence corresponds to the relative clause in your example. So it seems like the explanation you read is inexact/misleading.Īlso note that native speakers don't use 'whom' that much these days, especially in informal contexts, so much of the time we'd just use 'who' in that example anyway.Įdit: You might be able to see it more clearly by forming two sentences: The above is the relative clause - as you can see, the subject of the verb in this clause ('saw') is 'I.' The object of 'saw' is 'whom.' So even though 'whom' refers back to 'the girl' and 'the girl' is the subject of a verb in the sentence, 'whom' is not the subject within the relative clause. 'The girl' is the subject of the verb 'is,' but what's relevant here is the subject/object within the relative clause:

The subject of the sentence is 'The girl,' and the 'who/m' describes the girl, therefore according to the rule written above it should be 'who,' but here it's 'whom.' ' The girl whom I saw at the party is my friend’s ex-girlfriend.'

Use of what who which whom why how