{"id":2613,"date":"2017-12-12T23:31:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T05:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2613"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:25:39","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:25:39","slug":"whoever-would-use-whomever-read-on-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/pronouns\/whoever-would-use-whomever-read-on-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Whoever Would Use Whomever<\/em>: Read On"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago we discussed Americans\u2019 odd fondness for\u00a0whom<\/em>. It\u2019s a word that few really understand, but it just sounds so darned cosmopolitan.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re infatuated with\u00a0whom<\/em>, we\u2019re over the moon about\u00a0whomever<\/em>. You hear it everywhere. People love saying it\u2014right or wrong.<\/p>\n

Just recently, a major American newspaper ran a headline that said \u201c\u2026 whomever that may be.\u201d When the story jumped to a second page, the headline changed to \u201c\u2026 whomever it is.\u201d Horrors! In both cases, this was first-degree\u00a0whomever\u00a0<\/em>abuse.<\/p>\n

Like that errant headline writer, too many of us think that\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0whomever<\/em>\u00a0mean the same thing\u2014and that\u00a0whomever\u00a0<\/em>is the sexier choice.<\/p>\n

To determine whether to use\u00a0whoever\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0whomever<\/em>, our shorthand rule for\u00a0who\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0whom<\/em>\u00a0applies:\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0= whoever<\/em> and\u00a0him<\/em>\u00a0=\u00a0whomever<\/em>.\u00a0Whoever<\/em>\u00a0is always a subject;\u00a0whomever\u00a0<\/em>is always an object. That\u2019s why whomever it is<\/em> and\u00a0whomever that may be<\/em>\u00a0could never be correct. We say\u00a0he is<\/em>, not\u00a0him is<\/em>, so we must say whoever<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0it is<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0whoever<\/em><\/strong> that may be<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The presence of\u00a0whoever\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0whomever\u00a0<\/em>indicates a dependent clause, as in this sentence:\u00a0Give it to whoever asks for it first<\/em>. (The dependent clause is\u00a0whoever asks for it first<\/em>.) You might think the correct word should be\u00a0whomever<\/em>, an object pronoun, since you\u2019d say\u00a0Give it to\u00a0her<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0Give it to\u00a0them<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em>But here is the rule: Always use\u00a0whoever\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0whomever<\/em>\u00a0to agree with the verb (asks<\/em>) in that dependent clause, regardless of the rest of the sentence.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0<\/em>ask for it,\u00a0he\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0she\u00a0<\/em>asks for it,\u00a0we\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0they\u00a0<\/em>ask for it.\u00a0I<\/em>,\u00a0he<\/em>,\u00a0she<\/em>,\u00a0we<\/em>, and\u00a0they\u00a0<\/em>are subject pronouns. Therefore,\u00a0Give it to\u00a0whoever\u00a0<\/strong>asks for it first<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand:\u00a0We will hire whoever\/whomever you recommend<\/em>. Since you recommend\u00a0me\u00a0<\/em>(or\u00a0him<\/em>,\u00a0her<\/em>,\u00a0us<\/em>,\u00a0them<\/em>), the right answer is\u00a0whomever<\/em>, the object of\u00a0recommend<\/em>, the verb in the dependent clause.<\/p>\n

So the key is the verb in that dependent clause. Remember that, and may all your\u00a0whomever<\/em>s be winners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

1. Choose\u00a0whoever\/whomever<\/em>\u00a0you prefer.<\/p>\n

2. Choose\u00a0whoever\/whomever<\/em>\u00a0you think will win.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Whoever\/whomever\u00a0<\/em>is chosen, we must pick wisely.<\/p>\n

4. We discussed it with\u00a0whoever\/whomever\u00a0<\/em>we figured might be interested.<\/p>\n

5. Make sure\u00a0whoever<\/em>\/whomever\u00a0<\/em>you hire turns out to be qualified.<\/p>\n

6. Make sure you hire\u00a0whoever\/whomever<\/em>\u00a0turns out to be qualified.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

1. Choose\u00a0whomever<\/em>\u00a0you prefer. (you prefer\u00a0him<\/em>)<\/p>\n

2. Choose\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0you think will win. (you think\u00a0I<\/em>\u00a0will win)<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Whoever<\/em>\u00a0is chosen, we must pick wisely. (he<\/em>\u00a0is chosen)<\/p>\n

4. We discussed it with\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0we figured might be interested. (we figured\u00a0they\u00a0<\/em>might be interested)<\/p>\n

5. Make sure\u00a0whomever\u00a0<\/em>you hire turns out to be qualified. (you hire\u00a0him<\/em>)<\/p>\n

6. Make sure you hire\u00a0whoever<\/em>\u00a0turns out to be qualified. (she\u00a0<\/em>turns out to be qualified)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago we discussed Americans\u2019 odd fondness for\u00a0whom. It\u2019s a word that few really understand, but it just sounds so darned cosmopolitan. If we\u2019re infatuated with\u00a0whom, we\u2019re over the moon about\u00a0whomever. You hear it everywhere. People love saying it\u2014right or wrong. Just recently, a major American newspaper ran a headline that said \u201c\u2026 whomever […]<\/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-2613","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\/2613"}],"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=2613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}