substandard. Fowler's has an extensive entry on who and whom including several quotes from major publications where whom is used incorrectly. Undisputed usage: You are talking to whom? Disputed usage: You are talking to who? Undisputed usage: To whom are you talking? Widely disputed usage: To who are you talking? Disputed usage: Who are you talking to? Incorrect usage: "... far more hostile to Diana whom she believes betrayed the Prince of Wales" – Independent Magazine, 1993 (FOWLER) Undisputed usage: "... far more hostile to Diana who she believes betrayed the Prince of Wales" Disputed usage: "Whom do men say that I am?" (Mark 9:27, King James Version) whoever – This extension of who (see above) along with its object form whomever is attended by the same uncertainties as who along with whom, and is discussed in the same sources. (See the relevant section at Who.) Undisputed usage: Give it to whoever wants it. Undisputed usage: Give it to whoever you think should have it. Undisputed usage: Give it to whomever you choose to give it. Disputed usage: Give it to whoever you choose to give it to. Disputed usage: Give it to whomever wants it. Disputed usage: Give it to whomever you think should have it. whose – The use of whose to refer to non-persons (called inanimate whose) has drawn criticism from those who note that it derives from who, which can be used only with persons and the personified. English lacks a possessive form of which, so there is no word that could substitute for whose in the disputed example below to make it undisputed; the sentence would have to be reworded. Usually that is done with of which constructions, though these can sometimes be awkward or stilted and may inspire further rewriting. Undisputed usage: That's the woman whose husband keeps waking us up at night. Disputed usage: That's the car whose alarm keeps waking us up at night. Undisputed rewording, but potentially stilted: That's the car of which the alarm keeps waking us up at night. Undisputed rewording: That car's alarm is the one that keeps waking us up at night. Further reading Cochrane, James (2004). Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English. Napierville, Illinois: Sourcebooks. Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edition (2004). Soanes, Catherine et al. (eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fowler, H.W. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press.