The key difference between whoever and whomever is that whoever is a subject pronoun whereas whomever is an object pronoun.
Whoever and whomever are interrogative pronouns that refer to people. These are also two pronouns that confuse most of us. However, the difference between whoever and whomever is similar to the difference between he and him, or who and whom.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Whoever
3. What is Whomever
4. Side by Side Comparison – Whoever vs Whomever in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What Does Whoever Mean?
Whoever is a subject pronoun; therefore, this is like other pronouns such as I, he, she, we, and they. Subject pronouns basically refer to a person or thing that is performing the action of a verb.
Let’s now look at some example sentences containing the pronoun whoever.
- Whoever finishes first will get a price.
- A prize will be given to whoever who solves the problem first.
- Whoever wants to go to town is welcome to join us.
- Whoever made this apple pie should be commended.
- We realized whoever was not already there wasn’t coming.
In all the above examples, whoever refers to the person who performs the action of the main verb. In other words, use whoever in places where you would use the interrogative ‘who’, as opposed to ‘whom’.
What Does Whomever Mean?
Whomever is an objective pronoun. It has a similar function as personal pronouns like me, him, her, us, and them. Object pronouns act as the direct object of a verb, i.e., something that receives the action of a verb. They can also act as the object of a preposition.
- Let’s now look at some example sentences containing the pronoun whomever.
- I will hire whomever you recommend.
- She will marry whomever she likes.
- We don’t have to agree with everything said by whomever is in power.
- I will do business with whomever I wish.
In the above examples, you can notice that whomever acts either as the direct object of the verb or the object of a preposition.
Moreover, some people tend to use this pronoun as they think that the use of whomever sounds educated and intellectual. However, wrong use of this pronoun will actually imply the exact opposite of this. Therefore, you should choose the correct pronoun carefully; only use whomever when you are referring to an object.
What is the Difference Between Whoever and Whomever?
Whoever is a subjective pronoun whereas whomever is an objective pronoun. Therefore, this is the key difference between whoever and whomever. Furthermore, whoever basically refers to person or thing that is performing the action of a verb, and whomever serves either as the direct object of the verb or the object of the preposition. Moreover, it is easy to understand the difference between whoever and whomever if you keep in mind that whoever works like I, he, she, we, and they while whomever works like me, him, her, us, and them.
The below infographic on the difference between whoever and whomever summarizes all these differences.
Summary – Whoever vs Whomever
Whoever and whomever are two pronouns that often confuse us. The key difference between whoever and whomever is that whoever is a subject pronoun whereas whomever is an object pronoun.
Image Courtesy:
1.”1131055″ (CC0) via pxhere
2.”Don eNews (23640917732)”By vastateparksstaff (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia