Whoever is used to mean “anyone” or “whoever it is”: “Whoever comes first should open the window.” According to most English teachers, it should only be used in the subject position – i.e. in the place of Surname in “They come first.”
At the object location—the location of Surname in “I See Them Coming”—whoever should be used instead: “Invite anyone you like to the party.” But in actual use, whoever more common in both locations, and whoever sometimes used simply to make something sound more formal.
Anyone and anyone
Whoever And whoever are pronouns that mean the same thing: “whoever” or “whoever it is”. According to most English teachers, whoever should only be used in subject position – in other words, in place of Surname in “They Came Last” —and whoever should only be used in the object position – that is, the position of Surname in “I see them coming”:
Whoever comes first should open the window.
Invite anyone you like.
Sometimes it’s easy to follow the rule: use whoever when “anyone” is performing the action of the verb:
Anyone who wants to come is free.
Whoever made this cake deserves an award.
And use whoever when “anyone” is receiving the action of the verb:
You should invite whoever you want.
We will give cake to anyone we see.
(Note that the situation with whoever And whoever very similar to the one with Who And Who. We also have an article about that pair.)
But sometimes it’s hard to tell if “anyone” actually performed the action of the verb associated with it:
Give a slice to anyone who wants one. → whoever follow ARRIVEput it in the object position, but it is associated with the verb want and it performs the action of want in “whoever wants one.”
There is a test you can use to determine which words to use: try words Surname And Surname and see which makes more sense. They won’t transfer perfectly—Surname And Surname doesn’t mean “anyone” – but one will always be more appropriate than the other in a slightly modified version of the sentence.
Experiment with ‘Them’ and ‘Them’
Let’s look at some examples to see how this works.
[Whoever/Whomever] wrote the story that is very talented. → They wrote that story. (“They wrote that story” sounds very wrong.) SO: Whoever wrote that story is very talented.
[Whoever/Whomever] The party is coming and will need directions. → They are going to the party. (“They are going to the party” does not work.) SO: Anyone coming to the party will need directions.
Door prizes will be given to [whoever/whomever] come first. → They came first. (“They come first”: no.) SO: Prizes will be given to the first comers.
Thank you [whoever/whomever] this gift is from → This gift is from them. (“This gift is from them” has no meaning.) SO: Thank whoever this gift is from.
Bring [whoever/whomever] you want to go to the party. → Take them to the party. (Not “Take them to the party.”) SO: Bring whoever you want to the party.
we can invite [whoever/whomever] We chose. → We can invite them. (“We can invite them” is not good.) SO: We can invite whoever we choose.
What to remember
Whoever are given priority in positions Surname (or He or she) is the most natural. Whoever are given priority in positions Surname (or he or she) works better.
But keep in mind that in actual use, whoever is much more common, and whoever sometimes only used because it sounds formal.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
