{"id":1960,"date":"2021-08-04T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/?p=1960"},"modified":"2021-08-03T17:54:29","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T17:54:29","slug":"how-to-use-whoever-vs-whomever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/how-to-use-whoever-vs-whomever\/","title":{"rendered":"Whoever vs Whomever &#8211; How To Use Them Properly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Choosing whether to use <em>whoever<\/em> vs <em>whomever<\/em> can be understandably confusing. To give you the answer right off the bat, <em>whoever<\/em> is used as a subject pronoun, while <em>whomever<\/em> is used as an object pronoun.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Whoever<\/em> is the same as the other subject pronouns like <em>he, she<\/em> and<em> they,<\/em> while <em>whomever<\/em> is the same as <em>him, her<\/em> and <em>them<\/em>. Despite differing by just a letter, they are not interchangeable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Use <em>Whoever<\/em> or <em>Whomever<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/whoever-vs-whomever-difference-livingwriter-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"whoever vs whomever difference livingwriter\" class=\"wp-image-1966\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/whoever-vs-whomever-difference-livingwriter-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/whoever-vs-whomever-difference-livingwriter-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/whoever-vs-whomever-difference-livingwriter-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/whoever-vs-whomever-difference-livingwriter-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/whoever-vs-whomever-difference-livingwriter.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Whoever<\/em> and <em>whomever<\/em> are used to emphasize the action.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Whoever <\/em>and <em>whomever<\/em>, as well as their root words <em>who<\/em> and <em>whom<\/em>, are often used when the speaker does not know the identity of the subject or object of a sentence. Oftentimes, <em>who<\/em> and <em>whom<\/em> are used to specifically determine the identity of the subject or object. On the other hand, <em>whoever<\/em> and <em>whomever<\/em> are used to emphasize the action, rather than the identity of the doer\/receiver.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the <em>whoever<\/em> vs <em>whomever<\/em> distinction is important to your writing, then continue on to know how to correctly use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Difference between <em>Whoever<\/em> vs <em>Whomever<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to use <em>Whoever<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Whoever <\/em>is a <a href=\"https:\/\/grammar.yourdictionary.com\/parts-of-speech\/pronouns\/subject-pronoun.html\" class=\"rank-math-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">subject pronoun<\/a>, which means to say that it is used to refer to a person who is performing an action. As a quick reference, when you are trying to refer to someone that is doing some specific action, you should use <em>whoever<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Whoever<\/em> made this soup is a great chef.<\/li><li><em>Whoever<\/em> drank my juice should pay for it.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This usage of <em>whoever<\/em> is quite obvious. <em>Whoever<\/em> is typically at the beginning of the sentence, as are most subjects in a sentence. However, there are instances when it can be used in the middle of the sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Check back on <em>whoever<\/em> made that report. <\/li><li>We should get <em>whoever<\/em> is available right now.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In these cases, we have to look closely at the clause that it goes with. If the clause demands a subject rather than an object, or if it requires a doer of an action rather than a receiver of an action, then you should use <em>whoever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to Use <em>Whomever<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, <em>whomever <\/em>follows the same rules, but instead as an object. If you are trying to refer to someone who is receiving some specific action, you should use <em>whomever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The team will take in <em>whomever<\/em> the president chooses to be the leader.<\/li><li>I will reject <em>whomever<\/em> you recommend to me.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These are straightforward usages of <em>whomever<\/em> as an object<em>. <\/em>However, there are also instances where you can use <em>whomever<\/em> as a subject. Again, the key here is to look at the clause that it comes with. If it requires a receiver of an action, then you should use <em>whomever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Whomever<\/em> you choose is not my problem.<\/li><li><em>Whomever<\/em> they elect should be responsible.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This case is admittedly convoluted, and can be more confusing. A good point to note is that in these cases, there is actually a different noun or pronoun that acts as the actual subject of the clause (<em>you<\/em> in the former, <em>they<\/em> in the latter). Since there is a subject already, you would need to use an object, which would be <em>whomever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Substituting <em>Whoever<\/em> vs <em>Whomever<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A simple way of knowing which one to use is to substitute <em>whoever<\/em> or <em>whomever<\/em> with <em>he\/she\/they who<\/em> or <em>him\/her\/them who<\/em>, respectively. The idea is to be able to identify the subject and object of any given sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the sentence sounds better with <em>he\/she\/they who<\/em>, then you can use <em>whoever<\/em> for that sentence. It&#8217;s also true the other way around, for <em>him\/her\/them who<\/em> with <em>whomever<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>He who<\/em> made this soup is a great chef. (use <em>whoever<\/em>)<\/li><li>The team will take <em>her who<\/em> the president chooses to be the leader. (use <em>whomever<\/em>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not a perfect way of determining when to use <em>whomever<\/em> or <em>whoever<\/em>, since it only works if you\u2019re using them as in the first cases presented (as subject for <em>whoever<\/em>, as object for<em> whomever<\/em>). However, it is plenty for the most basic situations where you might be confused.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rewrite if You Have To<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, you don\u2019t have to torture yourself with these grammatical gymnastics. If you find yourself totally confused on how to use <em>whoever <\/em>vs<em> whomever<\/em>, then it\u2019s perfectly fine to rewrite the sentence to avoid using those words. If you don\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/how-to-be-confident-in-your-writing\" class=\"rank-math-link\">feel confident writing<\/a> using these words, feel free to change up even the entire sentence if you have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The person who made this soup is a great chef.<\/li><li>The team will take in anyone the president chooses to be the leader.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Whoever is Reading This Has Reached the End<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time you\u2019ve read this section of the article, you should have learned how to properly use <em>whoever<\/em> and <em>whomever<\/em>. We personally admit that it is indeed a confusing topic to tackle, so we did our best to simplify it for you. Now, you can go ahead and focus on your manuscript without worrying of misusing these words. Don\u2019t forget to check on <a href=\"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/\" class=\"rank-math-link\">LivingWriter<\/a>, the best writing companion that grows and evolves with you, the writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Choosing whether to use whoever vs whomever can be understandably confusing. To give you the answer right off the bat, whoever is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[169,170,172,171],"views":36713,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1960"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1968,"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960\/revisions\/1968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}