Which to use
“whole” is an adjective and “whom” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #333
- “whole” frequency rank
- #1,513
- “whom” frequency rank
- 1846
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | whole | whom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Entire, undivided. | What person or people; which person or people. |
Where the eye mixes whole and whom
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: whole is /həʊl/ while whom is /huːm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1846, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
whole is recorded at frequency rank #333, classified as anadj, pronounced /həʊl/. whom is at rank #1,513, tagged as apron, pronounced /huːm/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 1846, this pair ranks #526,489 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of whole vs whom
Shared letters: how. Private to "whole": el. Private to "whom": m.
"whole" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "whom" · 4 letters · shape CCVC