Use whoever when the word is the subject of its clause, where you could say he or she. Use whomever when it is the object, where you could say him or her.
Whoever and whomever are both pronouns, but choosing between them is a challenge for many English speakers and writers. You may even have thought that they are interchangeable. They are not.
If you are still unsure which one to use, remember this simple rule:
- he or she = whoever
- him or her = whomever
Whoever and whomever explained
Whoever
Whoever is a subject pronoun: it is 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. You can test it: he is ready.)
- My boss will hire whoever is nice to him.
- The coach will drop whoever skips basic training.
Look again at the first example: whoever comes right after the preposition to, but it is still the subject of asks. What counts is the role of the word in its own clause, not the word in front of it.
You can also use whoever as a subject complement, after a form of be:
- Whoever you are, I like you already.
- Whoever it was did not leave any fingerprints.
- Whoever he was, he looked lonely.
Whomever
Whomever is an object pronoun: it is the object of a verb or a preposition in its own clause. Examples:
- You can marry whomever you love. (Whomever is the object of the verb love: you love him.)
- Whomever Jack chooses is fine with me. (Whomever is the object of the verb chooses: Jack chooses her.)
- I will be happy to welcome whomever you hire today. (Whomever is the object of the verb hire: you hire him or her.)
In everyday speech, many people use whoever in every case, and whomever can sound stiff. In formal writing, though, the difference still counts. The same rule decides between who and whom.
Just get rid of them
Still cannot tell which one to use? Leave out whoever and whomever altogether, and rewrite your sentence so that you need neither.
Rewrite this:
Give this memo to whoever/whomever you find in the legal department downstairs.
into this:
Give this memo to somebody in the legal department downstairs.
And this:
Whoever/whomever eats my donuts is in big trouble.
into this:
The one who eats my donuts is in big trouble.
Problem solved.
If grammar is not your strong point and you have more than whoever and whomever to think about, get some help: the Spell Checker checks grammar and punctuation as well as spelling, and it is free to use. For the other pronouns, read what you need to know about pronouns.