Whoever vs. Whomever

Whoever and whomever are both pronouns. Choosing which one
to use in a sentence, however, has been a challenge for many English speakers
and writers. You could’ve sworn these two are always interchangeable.

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If you’re one of those people who are still confuse about
which one to use, just remember this simple rule:

• he/she = whoever
• him/her  =
  whomever

Whoever vs. Whomever Explained

Whoever

Keep in mind that whoever
is a subject pronoun. Its role is to be the subject of a verb. Here are some
examples:

• Give the flyers to whoever asks for them. (Whoever
  is the subject of the verb asks)
• Whoever
  is ready can go first. (Whoever is
  the subject of the verb is. We can
  verify it by saying “He is ready”)
• My boss will hire whoever is nice to him.
• The coach will kick out whoever skips basic training.

.

You can also use whoever
as a subject complement.

• Whoever you are, I like you already.
• Whoever it was did not leave any fingerprint.
• Whoever he was appeared lonely.

Whomever

Whomever is an object pronoun. It follows a verb or
proposition. Examples:

• You can marry whomever you love. (Whomever is the object of the verb love . “You love him, so you can marry him.”)
• Whomever
  Jack chooses is OK to me. (Whomever
  is the object of the verb chooses. “Jack chooses her and it’s OK to me.”)
• I will be happy to welcome whomever you hire today.  (Whomever is the object of the verb hire. “You hire him/her”)

Just get rid of them

Still can’t tell which one to use? Just remove
whoever/whomever altogether. Rewrite your sentences so you won’t need either.

.

Rewrite this:

.

Give this memo to whoever/whomever at the legal department
downstairs.

.

Into this:

.

Give this memo to somebody at the legal department
downstairs.

.

And this:

.

Whoever/whomever eat my
donuts, you’re in big trouble.

.

Into this:

.

The one who eats my
donuts is in big trouble.

.

See?  Problem’s
solved.

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Anyway, if grammar is not your strong point and you have
more than just whoever/whomever to think about, just get some help. We’re
talking about using the online
grammar and spelling checker. It’s free and easy to use so you really don’t
have any excuse for not using it.