“Who do you like?”
Many of us have either asked or have been asked this question probably a dozen times!
But, sorry to say, the question “Who do you like?” is not grammatically correct. The pronoun who always refers to the subject of a sentence or phrase and denotes who is doing something (like he or she).
Who delivers the milk?
Jenny delivers the milk. (Who refers to Jenny, the subject of the sentence.)
Whom always refers to the object of a sentence.
With whom were you chatting this morning?
I was chatting with Renuka. (Whom refers to Renuka, the object of the sentence.)
So, let’s revert to the first question, “ Who do you like?” The answer would give the object of the sentence. So the question would rightly be “ Whom do you like?”
A simple way to remember this rule would be the following tip:
If the answer is he, use who . He — who
If the answer is him, use whom . Him — whom
