Whoever vs. WhomeverChoosing
whoever or
whomever can be easy.
Whomever is an object pronoun and works like the pronouns him, her, and them (Give the document to whomever in the department).
Whoever is a subject pronoun and works like the pronouns he, she, and they (Whoever wrote this poem should win a prize).
It all comes down to understanding how
who functions.
Who and whoever are subject pronouns. In sentences, they function the same way as
I, he, she, we, and
they. Subject pronouns refer to the person or thing that is performing the action of a verb. Notice how
who and
whoever act just like the other subject pronouns in these examples:
I opened the door to see whether it was still raining. Who opened the door to see whether it was still raining?
Whoever brought these brownies to the party should be commended! He brought these brownies to the party. He should be commended!
In contrast,
Whom and whomever are object pronouns. They function the same way as
me, him, her, us, and
them. (We left
you out of this list because it’s formed the same way for both subject and object cases.) An object pronoun can serve as the direct object of a verb (something that receives the action of a verb), or the object of a preposition. Let’s look at a few sentences with these pronouns:
I decided to buy a present for her. I decided to buy a present for
whomever I am assigned in the gift exchange program.
He will recommend
whomever you suggest. If you suggest him, he will recommend
#Whoever_vs_Whomever
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