Whoever vs. Whomever
In the “English Rules” section of my site, GrammarBook.com, you will find my simple explanation for determining whether to use who or whom.
Briefly, this is the trick:
who = he (subject pronouns)
whom = him (object pronouns)
Example: Who/Whom is at the door?
He is at the door.
Example: For who/whom should I vote?
Should I vote for him?
To determine whether to use whoever or whomever, here is the trick:
him + he = whoever
him + him = whomever
Examples:
Give it to whoever/whomever asks for it first.
Give it to him. He asks for it first.
Therefore, Give it to whoever asks for it first.
We will hire whoever/whomever you recommend.
We will hire him. You recommend him.
him + him = whomever
We will hire whoever/whomever is most qualified.
We will hire him. He is most qualified.
him + he = whoever
When the entire whoever/whomever clause is the subject of the verb following the clause, look inside the clause to determine whether to use whoever or whomever.
Examples:
Whoever is elected will serve a four-year term.
Whoever is elected is the subject of will serve.
Whoever is the subject of is.
Whomever you elect will serve a four-year term.
Whomever you elect is the subject of will serve.
Whomever is the object of you elect.
Pop Quiz
- Omar will talk about his girlfriend with whoever/whomever asks him.
- Kimiko donates her time to whoever/whomever needs it most.
- Quinton will work on the project with whoever/whomever you suggest.
- Whoever/Whomever wins the lottery will become a millionaire.
Answers
- whoever
- whoever
- whomever
- Whoever
Posted on Sunday, May 27th, 2007, at 9:41 pm
18 Responses to “Whoever vs. Whomever”
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Omar will talk about his girlfriend with whomever…
Omar will talk with whomever…
Omar talks with whomever…
Kimiko donates to who needs it [the] most.
Qinton will work the project with whom you suggest.
Whomever wins the lottery will be a millionaire.
Give it to whom who asks for it first.
We will hire whomever is most qualified.
Whomever elected will serve a four-year term.
Whom you elect will serve a four-year term.
Professor Jane Straus,
Know that proper grammar is determined by etiquette.
The sentences in your comments contain numerous errors. Proper grammar has been determined over hundreds of years and is continuously evolving over time. What is considered proper etiquette is likewise constantly evolving and is not necessarily correlated to proper grammar.
thanks ….. for ur help
You are very welcome! (Although, since we are a grammar and punctuation website and blog, we feel obliged to remind you of the untexted version, “Thanks for your help.”)
And “ur” is improper for “you are.” It’s actually “u r.” “Ur” sounds like “err.”
Generally, texted abbreviations of words are grammatically improper in formal English writing.
Still a little confused…please advise…thinking “whoever” is appropriate here:
“…and offer her help to whoever would stop and listen.”
Whoever or whomever?
To determine whether to use whoever or whomever, here is the trick:
him + he = whoever
offer to help him, he would stop and listen
Sandy would stop by and offer her help to whoever would stop and listen.
My friend wrote a sentence that said, “To whomever dragged my trashcan down the street, that was a good prank.”
I told him he should have said “whoever” but he disagrees since the word “to” precedes his use of whomever. He claims it is the “dative case”. Can you clear up this confusion?
The letter is to him. He dragged the trash can. Therefore, we use whoever. Correct?
You are correct. The letter is to him (or, I am writing to him). He dragged the trash can. Him + he = whoever. Regarding the dative case, in general, the dative marks the indirect object of a verb, which is not the case here.
I saw the following in a television show:
To whomever I may have hurt, the world and all its problems are just too much.
I may have hurt him. He is hurt.
So: whoever?
Or is it just I may have hurt him: Whomever I may have hurt?
(I am writing) to him. I may have hurt him. Him + him = whomever.
To whomever I may have hurt, the world and all its problems are just too much.
I saw these sentences in a respectable Newspaper; can you confirm their correct usage of Who/Whom, Whoever/Whomever, and explain?
1) There is a special place in hell for whomever thinks it is ok to steal from a dead person.
2) I don’t know who was hitting who.
3) Mr. Johnson, whom Mary said….
4) Trying to figure out who to vote for….
The Grammar Rules on our website cover Who vs. Whom as well as Whoever vs. Whomever:
Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct.
he = who
him = whom
To determine whether to use whoever or whomever, here is the rule:
him + he = whoever
him + him = whomever
There is a special place in hell for whoever thinks it is ok to steal from a dead person.
(There is a special place in hell for him; he thinks it is ok to steal from a dead person.)
I don’t know who was hitting whom.
(He was hitting him.)
Mrs. Johnson, who Mary said brought the salad…
(Mary said (s)he brought the salad.)
I am trying to figure out whom to vote for.
(Vote for him.)
The sentence is: Please give this reply to whoever/whomever wrote the email. How does the he+him rule apply here? I believe it is “whomever” since you can use “him”.
To determine whether to use whoever or whomever, here is the trick:
him + he = whoever
him + him = whomever
Please give this reply to him; he wrote the email. Since the “him + he” rule applies here, use whoever.
Please give this reply to whoever wrote the email.
Okay, I don’t quite understand why the noun clause matters in determining who/whom.
E.g., Give it to whoever/whomever asks for it first.
The noun phrase “who(m)ever asks for it first” is the predicate. Why wouldn’t it simply follow the rules of predicate
Why does the fact that the pronoun is a phrase instead of just a single word have any barring on who/whom?
Give it to whom?
Give it to him.
“Him” is the equivalent substitution for the noun phrase “whomever asks for it first.” You can have a thousand words in the phrase “whomever asks for it first” and it’s still the “him” pronoun.
“. . . whomever asks for it with a nice, sunny disposition, purple pants, a wink and a smile first” is the same as just truncated it into a single pronoun: him.
That phrase should never be a “he”-phrase, no matter if it were one word, two words, a phrase, or a parenthetical series of gibberish and nonsense.
It should be a simple substitution.
Is this just one area (in many) where logic simply doesn’t win out?
“Give it to who/whom?” is a sentence of one clause and is a different sentence from “Give it to whoever/whomever asks for it first,” a sentence of two clauses where you must consider each clause before deciding whether to use whoever or whomever. Since you cannot substitute him in both clauses (Give it to him. He asks for it first.) the correct sentence is “Give it to whoever asks for it first.”