whomvaries

Whomvaries is a neologism used in linguistics to describe the variation in pronoun choice between whom and who in English. The term refers to the observable pattern that in some contexts, especially formal speech and traditional written style, speakers retain whom in object positions and after prepositions, while in informal speech many speakers favor who instead. The concept captures how pronoun case usage shifts across registers, dialects, and individual speakers rather than being fixed by strict rules.

Although not yet standard in major grammars, whomvaries is discussed as a descriptive label in sociolinguistic work examining pronoun case as a variable. It highlights the ongoing tension between prescriptive norms that emphasize whom in formal contexts and descriptivist observations showing broad use of who in everyday language. The phenomenon is influenced by factors such as age, education, region, and formality of the situation.

In practice, whomvaries manifests in several ways. In formal writing or careful speech, examples like "To whom did you address the letter?" or "Whom did you invite?" are common. In informal contexts, many speakers say "Who did you invite?" or "Who are you speaking to?" despite traditional rules. This variation can be evident in both embedded questions and relative clauses, where the choice of who versus whom can signal social stance or register.

See also: pronoun case, who/whom variation, prescriptivism vs descriptivism, sociolinguistics.