Whoever vs. Whomever How to Choose the Right Word

The words whoever and whomever are often confused, with many people assuming that the latter is a more formal or correct version of whoever. The misuse of whomever is so common that The New Yorker once published a list of examples under the title The Omnipotent Whom. While these two words may seem confusing, there is an underlying rule that governs their proper use. How to Use Whoever Whoever is a subject pronoun (just like I, he, she, they, and who). As a subject pronoun, it refers to the subject or actor in a sentence, the person who is performing the main action. For this reason, it works just like any other subject pronoun. You can use whoever in any context where you might also use I, she, he, or they: She is in charge over there.Whoever is in charge over there? How to Use Whomever Whomever is an object pronoun, which means you can use it in any place where you could also use me, him, her, them, or whom. As object pronouns, these words refer to the object of a sentence, the person who is the recipient or target of an action: Give it to her.Give it to whomever. Examples In English and in many other languages, pronouns change case depending on the relationship being described. In standard English, he, she, they, and who are changed to him, her, them, and whom whenever the pronoun does not refer to someone doing the action in a sentence. It remains it whether it is doing something or something is being done to it. The easiest and most commonly recognized subject placement is the very first word of a sentence; whenever a sentence starts with a pronoun, you can bet it will be I, he, she, they, who, or whoever: Whoever finishes the race first wins a trophy.Whoever wants to go on the field trip is free to come. When a pronoun occurs later in a sentence, though, things get trickier. The best way to choose the right pronoun is to first locate the main verb. If the pronoun is the subject of that verb, use whoever. If it is the object of that verb, use whomever: The prize should be given to whomever.The prize should be given to whoever wins the race. In the first example, the main verb is given, which takes the object pronoun whomever. In the second example, though, the main verb is wins, which takes the subject pronoun whoever. If the differentiation between whoever and whomever is annoying to you as an English speaker, you are not alone. Contemporary usage increasingly favors the use of whoever in both cases; in fact, the use of whom itself is disappearing. In 1975, the consulting editor of the New York Times, Theodore M. Bernstein, said that whom should be banished from the language except when it follows a preposition; thus, to whom it may concern and For Whom the Bell Tolls can stay, but everything else is who. Today, in most circles, selecting who and whoever as a default is considered acceptable usage. How to Remember the Difference Whoever and whomever are different parts of speech. One way to remember the difference is with the mnemonic hmmm. Would you say I want him to do that errand or I want he to do that errand? Since the first—the version with him—is correct, you should use whomever. If youre confused about a sentence, try substituting another pronoun (such as he or him) to determine whether you should use whoever or whomever. Sources Furness, Edna Lue. â€Å"Pupils, Pedagogues, and Pronoun Pitfalls.† Elementary English, vol. 42, no. 2, 1965, pp. 191–196.Lyman, R. L. â€Å"The Grammar of a County Teaching Force.† The English Journal, vol. 11, no. 4, 1922, pp. 240–242.Redfern, Richard K. The Language Game: The Death of Whom? The English Journal, vol. 70, no. 4, 1981, pp. 82–83.Romm, Ethel Grodzins. Whosoever the Gods Would Destroy, They First Make Misuse Whom. ABA Journal, vol. 71, no. 2, 1985, p. 126.