Whoever vs. Whomever

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Teo

#311663 Sun, 07 Jan 07 05:19 AM

CalifJim wrote:
The correct answer is "Give the package to whoever comes to the door".
Give it to whomever you like best. (You like him best.)
Give it to whoever pays the highest price. (He pays the highest price.)
It is whoever you think it is.
It is whoever you think has made a mistake.
It is whoever has made the mistake.
It is whoever is knocking at the door.
It is whomever they designated the leader.
It is whomever you believe they sent.

Give it to who(m)ever you like best. (You like him best.)
Give it to whoever pays the highest price. (He pays the highest price.)
It is whoever you think it is.
It is whoever you think has made a mistake.
It is whoever has made the mistake.
It is whoever is knocking at the door.
It is who(m)ever they designated the leader.
It is who(m)ever you believe they sent.

Except that a preposition which belongs grammatically to the whomever-clause is placed in front of the word "whomever", whomever can be replaced by whoever in ordinary usage.

Teo

Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004

Taiwan

Contributing Member (1,614)

Thank you very much for your reply.

Prepositions, Clauses

Teo

#311668 Sun, 07 Jan 07 05:27 AM

Anonymous wrote:
Even though it's "give the package to him" - which would require a "whom". But "he" or "she" (whoever) is the subject of the verb comes. Therefore it's whoever

Even though it's "give the package to him" - which would require the objective case. But "he" or "she" (whoever) is the subject of the verb comes. Therefore it's whoever.

Teo

Verbs, Whom

Teo

#311673 Sun, 07 Jan 07 05:39 AM

Whl626 wrote:
To understand this well, convert the ' whomever ' into ' any person who '

Give the package to any person who comes to the door. ( everything will be clear now )

convert the ' whomever ' into ' any person whom'

Teo

Whom

MrPedantic

#312352 Mon, 08 Jan 07 12:27 AM

Teo wrote:

MrPedantic wrote:
Yes, a "carer" is someone who looks after e.g. an elderly or disabled person (often a relative), without pay. Apparently there are 6m or so in the UK, of which about 60% are women.

Did you mean 6 million?

Indeed.

In fact, it may well be 6,000,001 by now.

MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004

Veteran Member (12,053)

...opella forensis / adducit febris...

Copasetic

#340098 Sat, 17 Mar 07 12:21 AM

MrPedantic wrote:
Hello Guest

In both cases, 'whoever' is grammatically correct:

1. ...whoever is chosen...

Here, 'whoever' is the subject of 'is'.

2. ...to whoever makes...

Here, 'whoever' is the subject of 'makes'.

As a previous poster has mentioned, you can test for case by substituting 'the person who/whom' for 'whoever/whomever' in such sentences.

MrP

OK, I have a slightly more complicated test sentence:

"It might be good for Jack and [whoever/whomever] else is in contact with the client to ensure that we get credit for the report."

My American ear (as wrong as it often is) says that 'whoever' is correct because it is the subject complement of 'is in contact with the client', and it passes the very clever test given already in this thread of replacing 'the person who/whom' for 'whoever/whomever' (if you ignore the 'else'). Am I right to trust my ear (and the test)?

But if that is the case, can someone explain it grammatically? The way I see it, the 'to ensure' clause is a 'to-infinitive' complement clause of 'It might be good', and the 'for Jack ... client' is adverbial expressing the 'to-infinitive' clause's agency. 'Jack and whoever else... client' is then the object clause of the preposition 'for'. Does that make sense? I think it's time for me to purchase a comprehensive grammar.

Copasetic

Joined on Fri, Mar 16 2007

New Member (01)

Grammar, Prepositions, Clauses, Whom

MrPedantic

#340103 Sat, 17 Mar 07 12:48 AM

Hello Copasetic,

Welcome to English Forums!

I would trust your ear:

1. It might be good for X to do Y.

X is indeed the object (or complement) of the preposition "for"; in your example, X = "Jack and whoever else is in contact with the client".

Like "what", "whoever" can play a grammatical role in two clauses. And just as "what" in such a context can be expressed as two elements ("that which"), so "whoever" can be expressed as "the person who(m)"/"any person who(m)". Thus in a sentence like yours,

2. P might be the case for [whoever] is Q.

the first element ("the person") relates to the first clause, and serves as the object of the preposition, while the second element ("who") relates to the second clause, and serves as the subject of the verb.

(Which is a long-winded way of saying what you've already said.)

All the best,

MrP

MrPedantic

Verbs, Prepositions, Clauses

Anonymous

#351520 Mon, 16 Apr 07 03:13 PM

I concur with your analysis. If the suggested responses were right, what would the subject of "comes to the door be"-- An object?

Anonymous

#371691 Mon, 28 May 07 05:49 PM

"Whomever" is used when the recipients, however many, are known before hand.

e.g. Either Mark, Jill, or Sam will be coming for this package; you will give it to whomever arrives.

"Whoever" is used when the recipient will be unkown.

e.g. You will give this package to whoever comes to the door.

I'll choose to go wherever I like and with whom. (you will know the person as you will have chosen to go with them)
I'll go with whoever wishes to come with me. (at this moment you don't know the person who might wish to go with you)
I'll go with whomever wishes to come with me. (you'll know from an already determined list who might wish to go with you)

I'm not very good at explaining things but I hope you'll understand what I mean.

Anonymous