1. WHO or WHOM? How do you decide?
STRATEGY: Use the Him/He Test
Re-order the part of the sentence containing who or whom.
Rephrase with he or him.
WHO = HE
WHOM = HIM
Where him is the proper choice, then whom would also be correct.

2. Sample Problem I wonder who/whom he bribed to get this position.
To get this position, he bribed him.
Correct Choice: Whom

3. There, Their, and They’re
There = Location
My boyfriend and I always get into fights, but a month has passed, and there hasn’t been any problems.
Their = Possession
My friends really enjoy playing with their iPods.
They’re = They are
I really enjoy going to concerts, bands are so much better when they’re playing must live.
Substitute “They are” in the sentence and see if it makes sense.

4. Past and Passed
Past – Indicates something that happened previously. A previous time.
I often think about elementary school and how I used to act in the past.
Passed – Is the past tense of the verb –to pass.
We passed the exit five miles ago.

5. Its and It’s Its – Is a possessive pronoun meaning belonging to it.
A community is only as strong as its people.
It’s – A contraction for it is or it has. Check your work by spelling out “it is” in the sentence to see if it makes sense.
Unfortunately, it’s the actions of one person who ruin the party for everyone.