Whoever/whatever/whichever/whomever

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hanuman_2000

#76436 Fri, 25 Feb 05 04:23 AM

Sir,

As for relative pronouns like "who,whom,that/which", I could unterstand a little bit.

1.This is the boy who came to my house last night.

2.These are the boys who made this picture.

3.This is the pen which/that I bought yesteday.

4.The boy whom you are calling John is my brother.

But I am not fimiliar with the usage of these words(whatever,whoever,whichever,whomever).

Would you please give a hand to understand these words?

Thanks.

hanuman_2000

Joined on Thu, Aug 12 2004

INDIA

Contributing Member (1,611)

Nouns, Pronouns, Relative pronouns, Whom

Mister Micawber

#76459 Fri, 25 Feb 05 08:38 AM

These '-ever' words are inclusive, and begin nominal clauses stating, for instance, 'under all conditions':

Whoever came into my house last night left his footprints in the mousse. (subject -- 'who of any person')

This is the receipt for whatever you bought yesterday. (object of preposition -- 'all of the [unidentified] items')

I want whichever pen you're not using. (direct object -- 'any', 'which of all unused pens')

Give these roses to whomever you like best. (and don't you admire how I made 'whomever' the object of both 'to' and 'like', so that there will be no argument about 'who/whom'?)

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (21,223)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Prepositions, Clauses, Whom, Direct objects