{"id":2587,"date":"2017-11-08T11:36:57","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T17:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2587"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:25:21","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:25:21","slug":"whoever-vs-whomever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/pronouns\/whoever-vs-whomever\/","title":{"rendered":"Whoever<\/em> vs. Whomever<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the “English Rules” section of our GrammarBook.com<\/a> website,\u00a0and in our blog post Who<\/em> vs. Whom<\/em><\/a>, you will find our simple explanation for determining whether to use\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0whom<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Briefly, this is the trick:
\nwho = he (subject pronouns)
\nwhom = him (object pronouns)<\/p>\n

Example:\u00a0Who<\/em><\/strong>\/Whom is at the door?<\/em>
\nHe<\/strong>\u00a0is at the door.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong>\u00a0For who\/whom<\/strong>\u00a0should I vote?<\/em>
\nShould I vote for\u00a0him<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

To determine whether to use\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0whomever<\/span>,\u00a0 the\u00a0he\/him<\/em>\u00a0trick still applies:
\nhe = whoever
\nhim = whomever<\/p>\n

Rule 1:\u00a0<\/strong>The presence of\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0whomever<\/em>\u00a0indicates a dependent clause. Use\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0whomever<\/em>\u00a0to agree with the verb in that dependent clause, regardless of the rest of the sentence.<\/p>\n

Examples:\u00a0<\/strong>
\nGive it to\u00a0whoever<\/span>\/whomever asks for it first.<\/em>
\nHe<\/em>\u00a0asks for it first. Therefore,\u00a0whoever\u00a0<\/em>is correct.<\/p>\n

We will hire whoever\/whomever<\/strong>\u00a0you recommend.<\/em>
\nYou recommend\u00a0him<\/em>. Therefore,\u00a0whomever<\/em>\u00a0is correct.<\/p>\n

We will hire\u00a0whoever<\/strong>\/whomever is most qualified.<\/em>
\nHe<\/em>\u00a0is most qualified. Therefore,\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0is correct.<\/p>\n

Rule 2:<\/strong>\u00a0When the entire\u00a0whoever\/whomever<\/em>\u00a0clause is the subject of the verb that follows the clause, analyze the clause to determine whether to use\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0whomever<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/strong>
\nWhoever<\/strong>\u00a0is elected will serve a four-year term.<\/em>
\nWhoever\u00a0<\/em>is the subject of\u00a0is\u00a0elected.\u00a0<\/em>The clause\u00a0whoever is elected<\/em>\u00a0is the subject of\u00a0will serve<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Whomever<\/strong>\u00a0you elect will serve a four-year term.<\/em>
\nWhomever\u00a0<\/em>is the object of\u00a0elect. Whomever you elect<\/em>\u00a0is the subject of\u00a0will serve<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Omar will talk about his girlfriend with whoever\/whomever asks him.<\/li>\n
  2. Kimiko donates her time to whoever\/whomever needs it most.<\/li>\n
  3. Quinton will work on the project with whoever\/whomever you suggest.<\/li>\n
  4. Whoever\/Whomever wins the lottery will become a millionaire.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Omar will talk about his girlfriend with\u00a0whoever<\/strong>\u00a0asks him.<\/li>\n
    2. Kimiko donates her time to\u00a0whoever<\/strong>\u00a0needs it most.<\/li>\n
    3. Quinton will work on the project with\u00a0whomever<\/strong>\u00a0you suggest.<\/li>\n
    4. Whoever<\/strong>\u00a0wins the lottery will become a millionaire.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      In the “English Rules” section of our GrammarBook.com website,\u00a0and in our blog post Who vs. Whom, you will find our simple explanation for determining whether to use\u00a0who\u00a0or\u00a0whom. Briefly, this is the trick: who = he (subject pronouns) whom = him (object pronouns) Example:\u00a0Who\/Whom is at the door? He\u00a0is at the door. Example:\u00a0For who\/whom\u00a0should I vote? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pronouns","category-whowhomwhoeverwhomever"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}